Press Briefing Statement (Part 1)
ADDRESS TO ALL ZAMBIANS BY PRESIDENT OF THE PATRIOTIC FRONT MILES. B SAMPA, MP
September 6th, 2024
• Members of the Press
• Fellow Zambians present, watching or listening virtually
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning,
I want to thank you all for being part of this press briefing, where we will discuss some of the most pressing issues and challenges affecting our great Nation. As the Patriotic Front in opposition, it was before and is now our duty to speak on behalf of the voiceless, address issues head-on and offer practical solutions that can bring relief to majority ordinary Zambians.
1.0 PROBLEM : *High Cost of Living, High Fuel Prices and High Cost of Doing Business*
The cost of living in Zambia has reached alarming levels. Fuel prices continue to rise, putting additional strain on households and businesses. The cost of doing business has escalated, with many businesses shutting down while some entrepreneurs struggle to keep their operations afloat due to high taxes, expensive utilities, and the overall harsh economic conditions. These factors are exacerbating poverty and unemployment, making it increasingly difficult for the average Zambian to sustain their livelihood.
1.1 SOLUTIONS to the High Cost of Living and High Cost of Doing Business
As the Patriotic Front, we are proposing a multi-pronged strategy to address the high cost of living and doing business.
• A Review and reduction of fuel levies to bring down fuel prices and reduce transportation costs, which will also lower the cost of goods and services.
• Introduce tax incentives and reduce bureaucratic red tape for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.
• Promote local production and investment in agriculture and manufacturing to reduce reliance on expensive imports and stabilize domestic prices.
• Improve energy security by investing in renewable energy projects and reducing reliance on costly fuel imports, which will lower energy costs for businesses and households.
2.0 PROBLEM : United Nations Human Rights Report on Government Suppression of Citizens
The recent report from United Nations experts on human rights has highlighted concerns about the Zambian government’s arbitrary actions against political opponents, the clergy, and journalists. The report points to the selective application of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act, 2021 and *Sedition* which has been used to silence political dissent voices and restrict civil liberties. Such practices are a threat to democracy and Zambia’s standing on the global stage. What is Sedition anyways. It’s an archaic law that prohibits citizens from criticizing government which is at variance with tenent of multi party democracy. No wonder despite numerous charges slapped on various opposition citizens, there has hardly been trial or conviction. It seems only aimed at intimidating opposition with sleeping in the police cells for some days.
2.1 Solutions to Address Human Rights Concerns and the Cyber Security Act & Sedition
The Rebranded Patriotic Front is committed to upholding democratic values, civil liberties, the rule of law and freedom of speech. To address these concerns, we propose the following:
– Immediate review and amendment of the Sedition and the Cyber Security Crimes Act of 2021, ensuring that it is applied fairly and does not infringe on the rights of citizens, political opponents, or the media. These are some of the law the UPND government criticised and promised to repeal once in power. They have ignored their promise and instead hugged these acts and unleashing them willy nilly at whoever speaks against the governance.
– Completely repeal the Public Order Act which is now known as the Public Gathering Act. This Act is a tool to infringe on the freedom of assembly of the opponents.
– Establish an independent oversight body to monitor the enforcement of laws like the Nolle and prevent their misuse for political gain. This body will ensure that laws are applied uniformly and transparently.
– Encourage open dialogue and reconciliation with civil society groups, the clergy, and the media, fostering a more inclusive political environment that respects differing viewpoints and promotes freedom of speech.
– Work closely with international human rights bodies to implement their recommendations and ensure that Zambia continues to uphold its commitments to international human rights standards.
3.0 PROBLEM: PREVALENT CORRUPTION SCANDAL AFTER SCANDAL .
Corruption remains rampant in key sectors such as mining and the wanton abuse of state institutions like ZCCEM-IH, NAPSA, ZESCO etc . These scandals are diverting resources from development and undermining public trust. The abuse of security wings for personal gain and political intimidation further erodes confidence in government institutions. Corruption within the mining sector, in particular, has led to lost revenue and has negatively impacted Zambia’s economic potential.
3.1 SOLUTION to Corruption Scandals after Scandals
The Patriotic Front is fully committed to the fight against corruption at all levels of government. We propose:
• Strengthening the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and granting it full independence to investigate and prosecute corruption cases without political interference.
• Delinking state house from The ACC operations
• Enforcing stricter transparency measures within the mining sector and other key industries, ensuring that all transactions and contracts are publicly available and subject to audit.
• Launching a national anti-corruption campaign, aimed at educating the public and encouraging whistleblowers to come forward with information on corrupt practices.
• Stop the abuse of state institutions like ZESCO, NAPSA , ZCCM-IH etc by letting these institutions operate with autonomy in decision making and Investments . Rather than impose investments on these insitutions, give them autonomy and desist from imposing decisions with huge financial implications.
4.0 PROBLEM: Other Recent Challenges Affecting Ordinary Citizens
The Patriotic Front recognizes additional challenges that are deeply affecting the fabric of our nation, including the increasing loss of lives due to accidents, the troubling rise in suicides among young people, and the surge in abductions. These issues reflect deeper societal problems that must be urgently addressed.
– The rise in ROAD ACCIDENTS has led to the loss of countless lives, leaving families devastated and communities in mourning. Despite efforts to improve road safety, the number of accidents continues to climb, often due to poor infrastructure, reckless driving, and inadequate enforcement of traffic laws. The CJ Dr Mumba Malila is the latest victim of a road accident. On my own behalf, I wish him God’s intervention and quick recovery from his wounds and frustrated left leg.
– SUICIDE among young people is becoming alarmingly common, signaling a mental health crisis in Zambia. Economic hardships, unemployment, social isolation, and lack of access to mental health services are contributing factors driving young people to desperation.
– ABUDUCTIONS have increased, causing fear and insecurity across the nation. This rise in criminal activity highlights the need for stronger law enforcement and greater community involvement in safeguarding vulnerable individuals, particularly women and children.
4.1 SOLUTIONS to the Increasing Loss of Lives, Suicides, and Abductions
The Rebranded Patriotic Front is committed to addressing these critical challenges with comprehensive solutions:
• ROAD Safety and Accident Prevention: We propose the implementation of stricter traffic regulations and improved enforcement to curb reckless driving. Additionally, government must invest in upgrading ro
ad infrastructure, focusing on high-risk areas, and launch nationwide road safety awareness campaigns to educate the public on responsible driving.
• MENTAL Health Support for Youth: The Rebranded Patriotic Front suggests that Government prioritize the creation of accessible mental health services, particularly for young people. Government must establish more mental health centers, introduce community outreach programs, and integrate mental health education into schools to equip students with the tools to cope with emotional stress. Partnerships with civil society organizations should also be strengthened to offer counseling and crisis support services for those at risk.
• Combating ABDUCTIONS : government must enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prevent abductions by introducing advanced investigative tools and increasing police patrols in high-risk areas. We also propose community policing initiatives, where citizens collaborate with security forces to protect vulnerable members of society. Furthermore, Govermnment must introduce stricter penalties for perpetrators involved in abductions and other violent crimes to deter such activities.
5.0 PROBLEM: Unprecedented LOAD SHEDDING & power crisis
Our Nation has been terribly hit by the energy crisis which has plunged us into untold misery of loadshedding,crippling businesses and making production costs very high. Zambia is back to the UNIP darkness candles and braziers days.
5.1 Our SOLUTION to load shedding both in the long and short term.
– Government should FIRE the top management at ZESCO and recall those who were prematurely retired who clearly have the institutional memory to efficiently run Zesco.
– Government should move away from over dependency on hydro power which has clearly failed us due to droughts and the effects of climate change. We urge Government to walk the talk in and invest in;
. Solar and thermal (Coal) powered electricity. Unbundle ZESCO by liberalizing production, distribution and vending of power. Have transparency and full disclosure of importers and exporters of power.
. Increase ZESCO wheeling charge . To use its grid, ZESCO must charge significant percentage of what is being paid by the end users to the private sector grid user and seller. The people of Zambia need to benefit in real terms on usage of their ZESCO grid infrastructure .
6.0 PROBLEM: MAIZE Shortages and AFLATOXIN Contamination
In recent months, we have been faced with a troubling development regarding the availability and safety of one of our nation’s staple foods—maize. Reports of widespread maize shortages coupled with incidents of maize contamination with aflatoxins, have raised serious concerns for both food security and public health in our country.
The Maize shortages have caused hardship for many households, increasing prices of mealie meal and putting immense pressure on families already struggling with the high cost of living. This situation is particularly alarming because Maize is a staple that sustains millions of Zambians.
Even more disturbing is the recent discovery of maize contaminated with aflatoxins, a toxic substance that poses severe health risks, including liver damage and cancer. This contamination threatens not only our food security but also the wellbeing of our citizens, especially the most vulnerable—children and the elderly.
6.1 SOLUTIONS to the Maize Shortages and Aflatoxin Contamination
As the Patriotic Front, we acknowledge the gravity of this crisis, and we propose a comprehensive set of solutions to address both the maize shortages and the contamination problem:
A) Strengthening Agricultural POLICIES and PRODUCTION:
The current maize shortages point to deeper issues within our agricultural sector, including poor planning and inconsistent support to farmers. We propose immediate measures to support farmers with affordable inputs, access to modern farming technology, and financial incentives to boost maize production. Additionally, we must prioritize climate-resilient agriculture to ensure a stable food supply even in times of adverse weather.
😎 Improving STORAGE and Handling:
Aflatoxin contamination is largely caused by poor storage and handling of maize. We must invest in modern and secure storage facilities at both the national and community levels to prevent moisture and fungal growth. Moreover, educating farmers on best post-harvest practices will reduce contamination risks.
C) Strict Regulatory OVERSIGHT and Testing:
We call for the immediate strengthening of regulatory bodies like the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) to enforce stricter monitoring and testing of maize for aflatoxins. This will ensure that only safe, uncontaminated maize reaches our markets and households.
D) Supporting LOCAL Farmers and Markets:
To address maize shortages, we must empower local farmers to produce more maize by providing better access to markets and reducing the costs associated with production. We propose the establishment of local processing centers to ensure that Zambians have access to affordable mealie meal and other maize products, reducing reliance on imports and stabilizing prices.
E) PUBLIC HEALTH Measures:
In response to the health risks posed by aflatoxins, we recommend a national awareness campaign to educate citizens about the dangers of consuming contaminated maize. The Ministry of Health must also enhance surveillance and provide medical support in areas affected by aflatoxin poisoning.
As a nation, we cannot afford to let our people suffer from preventable food shortages and health risks. The Patriotic Front remains committed to finding lasting solutions to this crisis. We must act swiftly to safeguard both the food security and health of our citizens.
I urge the government to take these recommendations seriously and act immediately to prevent further suffering. Together, we can overcome these challenges and ensure that every Zambian has access to safe and affordable food.
7.0 PROBLEM: Former and Current President Sour Relations
It seems the Nation is now polarized with every being categorized as either pro President HH or pro former President ECL . It’s a very unhealthy situation and retrogressive for the Nation.
As for me neither is my enemy nor my friend. I don’t hate or love either one of them. I respect both because for the constitutional offices that they hold of incumbent and former President. Both are very important to the Country and that’s why both office holders need to be respected by all. All Countries where the two offices don’t get along, tend not to progress.
7.1 SOLUTION to President HH and Former President ECL non cordial relations.
– We should take a leaf from Kenya where President Ruto and Oppostion leader Raila Odinga have made a deliberate decision to support each other with former being sponsored and campaigned for to take over as the Africa Union-Chairman. There have to make deliberate decision to harmonize their differences.
8. CONCLUSION
As I stand before you today, I am reminded of the words of one of Africa’s great leaders:
“A nation’s progress is not measured by the wealth of a few, but by the wellbeing of the many.”
It is with this vision that the Patriotic Front remains committed to ensuring that every Zambian, regardless of background or status, can enjoy the benefits of a prosperous, just, and democratic nation. Together, we can create a Zambia that works for all of us.
Let me reiterate that the Patriotic Front remains a party of action and solutions. We have outlined clear strategies to tackle the high cost of living, restore our democracy, fight corruption, and address the safety and mental wellbeing of our people. It is through collective effort that we will overcome the challenges that face us.
I call upon all Zambians to unite in building a bet
ter future. As a party, we will continue to hold the government accountable and push for the policies that put the interests of the people first. Thank you all for your attention, and I look forward to engaging further in the days ahead.
MBS06.09.2024
ADDRESS TO ALL ZAMBIANS BY PRESIDENT OF THE PATRIOTIC FRONT MILES. B SAMPA, MP
ZAMBIANS DEMAND FOR PRESIDENTIAL
ACCOUNTABILITY – AFROBAROMETER
ZAMBIANS DEMAND FOR PRESIDENTIAL
CCOUNTABILITY – AFROBAROMETER
For many years, Zambia has been touted as one of Africa’s stable democracies, especially since it obtained a multiparty system almost three decades ago. Finally, the year-of-truth 2021 elections arrived, and with them, a peaceful transition of power to the opposition party, the United Party for National Development. Such electoral success emboldened the people’s hopes and expectations for accountability and transparency in government, adding to Zambians’ aspirations for a democratic future.
Results from the Afrobarometer Round 9 survey of 2022 show that an overwhelming 87% of Zambians prefer democracy to any other form of government. The strong endorsement of democratic governance shows that Zambians are not merely hungry for political change but are in an uproar to retain and advance their democratic rights. Almost 80% characterized Zambia as either “a full democracy” or “a democracy with minor problems,” indicating satisfied views about the political system.
These overwhelming feelings of goodwill notwithstanding, the current administration still has much to be concerned about. The public has complained about the limiting of freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.
Accountability is something in which Zambians firmly believe: 70% believe the president should account to the Parliament for every penny spent, which comes from the taxpayers. Further, 73% believe in people having their full freedom to criticize government officials without fear of reprisal. These statements pinpoint a demand from society for a transparent and accountable government and indicate how important checks and balances are in the way the country is governed.
What this survey also shows is a desire for an expansion of the laws that demand that public officials declare their assets, as supported by 65 percent who say there should be stricter laws concerning asset declaration. This desire thus meets the public aspiration for a corruption-free government, a reflection of active citizenry not disposed to shying away from demanding accountability.
Furthermore, fully three-quarters of Zambians believe that Parliament must always keep the executive accountable; that tends to show an instinctive belief in the powers of legislative oversight. More significantly, 81% of respondents said that their president “never” or “rarely” ignores Parliament-a welcome account, perhaps of accountability already framed, but still much more to go by way of practice.
Going forward, half of all Zambians believe that in the last five years, their country has become “more democratic,” and close to 60% are optimistic about further improvement in democracy. That optimism is important as Zambia forges ahead, setting a path for government elected by its people and responsible to them. The will of Zambians is clear: the people want their voices to continue being part of the political future of their country.
KUMWESU SEPT 6, 2024.
ZAMBIANS GAIN ACCESS TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES AS BYD ZAMBIA LAUNCHES NEW MODELS
ZAMBIANS GAIN ACCESS TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES AS BYD ZAMBIA LAUNCHES NEW MODELS
Lusaka, Friday (September 6, 2024)
Zambians can finally access electric vehicles as the world moves towards more environmentally friendly, efficient, and intelligent transportation solutions.
BYD Zambia, the world’s number one New Electric Vehicle (NEV) manufacturer, launched new electric vehicles in Lusaka yesterday and has also provided safe and fast charging facility.
The company expressed its support for all initiatives and awareness efforts by Zambian Electric Mobility Innovation Alliance – ZEMIA to encourage the adoption of EVs in Zambia.
Known globally for innovation and technology in vehicle design and production, BYD said it is committed to a greener future, with electric vehicles offering a range of 340 – 570 km on a full charge.
BYD Zambia is the first BYD dealership in Africa to launch three models at once:
The Dolphin: An economical city vehicle with a range of up to 427 km.
The ATTO 3: An SUV designed for family comfort, with a range of up to 420 km.
The Seal: A high-performance electric vehicle that accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 3.8 seconds and has a range of 570 km.
Pilatus Engineering and PEM (Pilatus Electric Mobility Zambia Limited) have been awarded the dealership agreement for Zambia.
BYD has also provided Zambia’s first 60kW DC fast charger.
Executive Director of BYD Zambia, Tue Nyboe Andersen, stated that the idea to bring new electric vehicles to Zambia was conceived four years ago and is now being realized.
Managing Director of BYD Zambia, Angelika Huwiler Andersen, mentioned that BYD vehicles have an average range of 420 km on a single charge and the battery has a 60-year lifespan.
She disclosed that using the vehicle-to-load adaptor, which comes as a standard free feature in every BYD vehicle, one can use the vehicle battery bank to power essential loads in a home.
General Manager of BYD Zambia, Namwinga Namusamba, stated that her firm recently completed their sales and after-sales training.
In terms of electrification, BYD is one of China’s leading new energy vehicle manufacturers and the only company in the world that simultaneously masters the three core technologies of electric vehicles, constantly promoting the high-quality development of electric vehicle technology.
Having passed the most stringent safety tests, including the nail penetration test, the BYD battery is the safest battery available today.
All BYD electric and hybrid vehicles come standard with a ‘vehicle to load socket,’ which means that one can use their car battery to power essential loads in their home of 2,200 – 3,500 watts.
Drivers can enjoy driving for less, zero carbon emissions, silent driving, and a battery bank to keep essential loads powered at home.
Zambia; Doom or Gloom, or Optimistic Prosperous?- Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
Zambia; Doom or Gloom, or Optimistic and Prosperous?
By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
George N. Mtonga, a Zambian economist and financial management analyst based in Atlanta, United States, a keen supporter of both President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND, has given an adverse verdict, a doom-and-gloom economy for now and its near future.
“We will suffer. Some more than others. And it will be pain of a plague-nature.” he wrote.
“Load-shedding won’t end, food shortages won’t end, you won’t wake up and find medicine in the hospitals.”
“NOTHING HH is doing will ever benefit you. HH will be 80 years when anything that he has done produces value…do you really think he is doing it for you and I… No!”
“He is the only man with the stamina to sacrifice a generation for a better future”,he says.
“We made our mistakes and we shall suffer for them until the day we die!! Many of us will be dead in the next 20 to 30 years. This is not about us”, He concludes.
WHAT MUST BE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
The damning and candid analysis George has given and the prognosis of pain and more pain for an entire generation he provides, could only true if we believe like both Hichilema and George believe- that solutions lie in giving unhindered policy space to; multi-nationals, foreign investments, the International Monetary Fund, deregulation, surrendering the entire economy to the private sector, with little or no state participation in the economy.
WHAT IS THE CRISIS?
Zambia, with a relatively small population of 20 million, is experiencing cost-of-living crisis, food insecurity, high unemployment rate, poverty, disease burden, rising inflation and rising debt, state corruption, low salaries, low economic growth and a small formal sector.
The cost of living crisis, has reached perilous levels, and the cost of essential foodstuffs such as mealie-meal,cooking oil, sugar, fuel, electricity are at a level that can easily spark social unrest.
The long hours of load-shedding and power cuts have severely and adversely affected economic production.
The leadership and economic team led by President Hakainde Hichilema and Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has shown clearly that it is not capable of resolving both the current and legacy crisis but will infact exacerbate it.
Hichilema believes in foreign solutions and accumulating debt and is relying heavily on external factors to resolve internal issues and crises.
He has also resorted to utter looting the Treasury and giving away state assets, emtying public pension funds to support private investment, dismantle and unbundle one of Aftuca’s largest utilities, ZESCO, give away borders and border management to private and dubious entities.
The key sectors of health, education and agriculture are collapsing while the nation is treated to repeated false assurances.
Hichilema believes that the international charitable and benevolent actions of creditors, “friends,” and multilateral financing institutions will hand him resources in form of aid, loans and foreign investments to resolve the deep economic crisis and the resources needed to develop the country.
Sadly,like his predecessors, he is stuck in looking for foreign solutions and unashamedly, carrying a begging bowl.
WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?
It is possible to make Zambia have a healthy, educated, wealthy population. Zambia can become an industrialised and prosepeorus nation, an export hub of minerals, electricity, agricultural produce, finished products and skills.
How it can it be done.
1. Remove tax holidays and tax incentives unfairly provided to the mining sector. The mining sector must pay just taxes and fair mineral royalties.
2. Renegotiate unfair and corrupt Power Pruchase Agreements entered into by ZESCO and Independent Power Producers that serve to milk ZESCO out of its revenue and investible resources and consigns the power utility to debt and inefficiencies.
3. Reform Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), seal loopholes, tax evasion, fraud and widen the tax-base to achieve tax revenues of above 35-40% of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) in the short-term. Revise taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT) that are frequently abused by large corporates and form part of tax-refund abuse and fraud.
Provide low individual tax rates for workers to increase disposable income throughout the economy, increasing consumer spending on goods and services.
3. Empower ZCCM-IH to immediately run KCM and Mopani Copper Mines, increase its shareholding in all large-scale mines and immediately place ZCCM-IH at the centre to implement a scheme to run gold, lithium, sugeliute and gemstone mines with the participation of artisanal and small-scale miners.
4. Increase ZCCM-IH shareholding in all large-scale mines to 51% or more. This means there will be an increase in revenue from royalties and an increase in state participation in dividends.
5. Many experts have stated that Zambia’s economy is far larger than the statistics of $20billion GDP and is in excess of $60billion….Together with IMF and AfDB conduct and honest, transparent and true measure of the value of the economy and its activities. This will help rebase Zambia’s GDP to its true value..This immediately dwarfs the so called debt crisis.
African countries enjoy under-stating the size of their economies in order to enjoy concessional loans and free poverty grants from multilateral institutions. This is the most lazy way of running government and serves to provide inherent relevance to these extortionist and predatory multilateral institutions that survive on the poverty and under-development of poor countries.
6. Plan and implement an immediate and robust programme to grow food and export to the 400 million people in the SADC region. Zambia must feed itself and feed Africa. Scale-up the participation of small-holder farmers in the FISP to 5 million. Immediately take power, roads and bridges, and storage sheds as part of the emergency plans to develop the farming blocks set up in each province. Integrate commercial and small-holder farmers in robust outgrower schemes.
7. Reform Law Enforcement Agencies to shift focus from the petty, narrow and political issues to fighting crimes, drug and illicit capital flight. According to the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Every year, Zambia loses $3billion in illicit capital flight. An estimated $100 billion, equivalent to 3.7% of Africa’s GDP, leaves the continent as illicit capital flight.
Remove laws and regulations that criminalize wealth and wealth creation. The current approach encourages illicit financial flows and externalisation of resources. It is for this reason that the wealthy in Zambia led by President Hakainde Hichilema, keep their money in off-shore accounts and outside the country.
8. Fight corruption by reforming tender processes, remove politicians and public officials from the process and remove politically exposed persons from hijacking the procurement system.
9. All large government expenditure and large contracts including fertiliser, fuel and others to be awarded to citizen-owned companies. If the procurement requires specialization or international bidding promote mandatory joint ventures with citizen-owned companies.
10. Government service providers, contractors, suppliers, and consultants to be paid within 30 days after presenting verified invoices or verified interim payment certificates.
11. Promote technological advancement, boost levels of labour and capital, grow the economy, improve standards of living and eliminate extreme poverty.
12. Promote an aggressive industrialisation programme including establishing value added and value-chain industries per districts and an anchor industry per province.
13. Revert Zambia to Non-aligned foreign Policy, close USAFRICOM security offices and revert to multi-state diplomatic collaboration with the USA, Russia, China, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UK and
France. Immediately apply to be a member of the BRICS.
We can make our country a developed, prospeprous, wealthy country while enjoying its cherished peace and stability.
TRAITS SHOW, PF MAY NEVER REBRAND – IT’S THE CASE OF PUTTING NEW WINE IN OLD WINE SKIN
TRAITS SHOW, PF MAY NEVER REBRAND – IT’S THE CASE OF PUTTING NEW WINE IN OLD WINE SKIN
A KBN TV EDITORIAL
Presently, there are only two centres of power where the next President is likely to come from. It’s either President Hakainde Hichilema continues or UKA, if they put their house in order, stands a chance to produce the next President.
Today, the political stakes are so high that the former ruling party wants to get back into power by any means possible. However, the happening in that party is showing that while their biggest need is rebranding, the PF is beginning to demonstrate that they cannot or have not seen the need to rebrand. Rebranding seems to be an impossible feat for them, it might appear.
The PF had a chance to show the Zambian people that they could change and embrace an opportunity for a second chance at power but traits of greed, intolerance and entitlement will potentially wreck their chances to bounce back into power.
These traits of greed and entitlement have driven the PF into three distinct camps that no one wants to let go!
Expecting a party that’s failing to govern its own affairs to bounce back in power without any sense of repentance is courting disaster.
Apart from fighting over the carcass of the party, PF has mishandled UKA, the only lifeline they had to help launder their tainted political image.
Let’s not forget that despite all the major infrastructure development projects including airports, roads, power stations, hospitals etc, PF were roundly rejected and kicked out of power lamentably because of caderism, corruption, arrogance, recklessness and an attitude of entitlement.
No one cared about the PF investments, the party had to go! Its leaders lost touch with reality, abused the police and lacked empathy for the suffering masses.
With a shoddy performance by the UPND, 2026 is anyone’s game. This is an opportunity that the PF doesn’t want to just see go past them. That’s why although the Bembas say “ukupoka ichinsenda kunkoko, kunakila” the PF don’t want to exercise patience over UKA, they want it all to themselves.
Zambians cannot be subjected to a protest vote twice and make the same mistake. PF was kicked out through a protest vote, Zambians are likely to kickout the UPND through another protest vote but the protest vote should not be to bring back the PF, it’s risky!
What’s the new wine, it’s the new opportunity that the UPND has willingly thrown away through their lack of seriousness and taking the Zambian people for granted, subjecting the nation to endless darkness for days by prioritizing power exports, risking lives of citizens through contaminated maize occasioned by the careless export of our national reserves and causing untold misery among the citizens through the high cost of living and sophisticated corruption.
PF represents old wine skin. Their desire for a comeback may not be sincere, it could be fuelled by an insatiable appetite for power and revenge. Zambians should think twice about putting new wine in old wine skin.
Entitlement has been exported into UKA, an Alliance that wholeheartedly welcomed them but PF wants to overrun everyone. The attitude of PF towards UKA can be likened to a hospitable host who welcomes a tired, butchered and bruised guest whom they bathe and give a warm cooked meal only for the guest to kick out the host with a thankless kick in the butt.
When President Lungu joined UKA, his Central Committee resisted the move. When they realized UKA was laundering the image of their party leader, and presenting him with a chance for a possible comeback, they mounted a vicious campaign to impose ECL on UKA and the people who welcomed him should be clapping for him while he takes over the alliance. Where is the mentorship, where is the statesmanship to help a nation?
Is Zambia short of leaders that we should be calling back retired and tired politicians?
When we recently heard President Lungu say he would be on the ballot, he poured water on his earlier commitment to UKA that he was merely there to help galvanize the opposition to fight the UPND.
The fact that ECL could u-turn so easily against his own words, paints a very weak leadership trait in him. If he can’t stand to defend his own words, it shows that he could easily be captured and controlled by those around him. Zambia is going through tough times, we need a leader who can show the strength of character to tame those under his charge.
As Secretary General Raphael Nakachinda told us yesterday, “you don’t expect me to say anything that my President doesn’t know or approve of.”
It’s very clear, the declaration that ECL is UKA and UKA is ECL is not the making of Nakachinda, Lungu wants the seat back and the externally driven instigation to endorse ECL as UKA candidate has the potential to split UKA into two factions, just the PF fate.
If it’s true that PF is courting New Congress Party, a member of the UKA Alliance behind the backs of all other partners and has assigned lawyers to study the party’s constitution in readiness to use it as a PF alternative, shows the insincerity of PF in UKA.
How can PF justify the decision that its members should only participate in by-elections as independent candidates and not on any of the alliance partner’s tickets and yet they expect UKA to swallow a humble pie and endorse ECL. Those are dangerous double standards.
That can only happen if PF is bankrolling UKA activities and all COP Presidents are in the pocket of ECL. The other assumption is that all registered voters can only vote for PF and its candidate in the coming elections, which in itself, is taking the Zambian people for granted.
KBN TV
“AM MOVING PF SECRETARIAT TO FORCE HEADQUARTERS,” – NAKACINDA
“AM MOVING PF SECRETARIAT TO FORCE HEADQUARTERS,” – NAKACINDA.
… To make it easier for the police to find me each time I hold a press briefing to provide checks and balances…
Smart Eagles. Thur. Sept 5, 2024.
PF Chief Executive Officer Raphael Nakacinda has demanded to know why the police arrest him each time he exercises his constitutional right of providing checks and balances as PF Secretary General to the UPND government.
Nakacinda who spent several nights at Chilenje Police station in Lusaka after holding a press briefing at which he was seeking answers as to why Zambians were being sold aflatoxin infested mealie meal and was only released yesterday afternoon, made a trip to force headquarters this afternoon, seeking an audience with the Police IG in hopes of getting answers as to why he was being detained constantly by the police for doing what is expected of him by the people of zambia as the SG of the biggest opposition party in the nation.
“Give me office space in the office of the IG so that we shift our activities from the Secretariat to force headquarters,” charged a visibly irate Nakacinda.
He bemoaned that the police were now involving themselves in politics instead of leaving politics to political players in the nation.
” Police are now playing politics and responding to our questions on behalf of the UPND through arresting us,” he stated .
He expressed shock that the police were trying to regulate how he should use the English language by telling him that it was wrong for him to use the word terrorism when to all intents and purposes, allowing citizens to consume toxic mealie meal was an act of terror.
” Police want to give us a template on what English we should use when we speak . That is unacceptable,” he charged.
He stated that the only way for politicians to put a message across was to engage in public discourse recollecting that the UPND and President Hakainde Hichilema were extremely vocal whilst in opposition on what they felt the PF government was doing wrong.
He took time to promise the head of state Mr Hakainde Hichilema that attempting to intimidate him and his fellow opposition political leaders will not work as they would continue speaking on behalf of the Zambian people, asking the relevant quetions and seeking for answers.
“Tell President Hakainde Hichilema that we will not stop speaking for the people of Zambia so far as the cost of living remains at an all-time high and unbearable,” he said .
Nakacinda has since left force headquarters with a promise to go back at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning.
#Smarteagles2024
Set me free, 5 months to prosecute me is over, insists Lusambo
Set me free, 5 months to prosecute me is over, insists Lusambo
FORMER Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo has continued on an insist that the Economic and Financial Crimes Court should discharge him on a technicality of lapse of time.
The Bulldozer asked magistrate Faidess Hamaundu to discharge him for want of prosecution on reasons that the five month period in which to try him has elapsed.
In this case, Lusambo is facing 10 corruption-related charges before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court; among them one count of corrupt acquisition of public property, five counts of possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime, three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud.
He is jointly charged with his wife Nancy Manase for possessing four houses in Silverest Gardens, Chongwe which were suspected to be procceds of crime.
The couple could not open defense before magistrate Faidess Hamaundu on reasons that, the period in which to try them had elapsed.
Representing the couple, former Attorney General Likando Kalaluka said Rule 3(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes rules provides that the court shall hear matters of financial crimes within five months from the date when plea is taken.
“Upon interrogating my clients, they informed me that they did not take plea in April 2024 and the charge sheet shows they took plea in April 2023 and not 2024 as augmented by the prosecution,”he said.
“If plea was taken in 2022 or 2023 then obviously the five months period has lapsed and this court may nolonger be clothed with jurisdiction to hear this matter.
Kalaluka said Rule 17 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Economic and Financial Crimes Rules of 2024 states that proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules.
He indicated that Rule 3(1) needs to be complied with as it’s couched in mandatory terms “shall”.
“This would have been the right matter for the prosecution to request that the accused persons take fresh plea immediately the Rules came into force on March 1, 2024. But this was not done,”Kalaluka said.
“The prosecution have the advantage of utilizing a nolle prosequi which should have resulted in into the accused being discharged, and re-arrested so that they could take plea afresh. This was not done.”
He said when his firm took up the matter on August 28, and asked for an extension of time the court had no jurisdiction and cannot take further steps in the matter.
“The matter is out of time rendering the Court wanting in terms of jurisdiction,” he said
In response, ACC prosecutor Daniel Ngwira sought answers on when the five months time frame was effected and whether or not the Court had lost its jurisdiction to hear and determine the case.
“The court had made an order extending the time within which the proceedings must be determined,” he said.
“Whether or not time was properly computed is now water under the bridge. This court cannot recompute time because, Rule 12 of SI no.10 of 2024 Economic and Financial Crimes Rules interlocutory orders cannot be assailed in this court,” he said.
He indicated the computation of time can be argued and determined on appeal.
“To argue that the prosecution misled the Court and the defense, is an indication that the defense slept on their rights. The maxim of equity states that; equity aids the vigilant and not the tired. At equity there’s no remedy for the tired such as the accused persons,”Ngwira argued.
“On August 25 the defense made an application to extend time the five months had already lapsed, we submit that clearly the defense have been caught up in their own web.
He urged the Court to invoke Rule 3(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Rules as read together with section 37 of CAP 2 to etxend the life of the proceedings.
“A majority of adjournments of the proceedings were occasioned at the instance of the defence, and the adjournments had an effect on the proceedings and today these are the people saying that time has elapsed,” said Ngwira.
“The maxim of equity states that; he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Both parties must check their hands and see if they are clean. We pray that the application be dismissed.”
Kalaluka expressed shock with the argument by the State that the accused slept on their rights yet, the prosecution team has not attempted refute assertions that it misled the court.
“This puts the court on the spotlight on how it will respond in such circumstances. The court cannot continue squandering time, by hearing cases it has no jurisdiction over when it’s overwhelmed with cases,” said Kalaluka.
“The defense is coming with clean hands, adjournments occasioned by the defense were for good reasons which touched on the health of the accused. They could not have foreseen that the rules of the court would come into effect in March 2024. They did not deliberately apply to adjourn the matter.”
Magistrate Hamaundu adjourned the case to September 6, for ruling
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba September 6,2024.
HH PROMISED TO DOUBLE THE ECONOMY
Lunte Member of Parliament Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya wrote:::::
HH PROMISED TO DOUBLE THE ECONOMY.
Whose economy will double? What does the economy translate to, or what should it translate to?
I read one book in which the economy was said to be us. I really liked that definition of it. I liked it because it took away that sometimes difficult mathematical expression of what the economy is often known as. Of course over the few years I have gained a decent appreciation of what the economy is, even if economic concepts were introduced.
And so after HH’s promise to double the economy was made, I have been looking keenly at government actions and pronouncements, including pipeline commitments. I have been assessing consistencies and inconsistencies in the operations of government.
After carefully assessing various economic and social factors surrounding our nation, I have come to the conclusion that the economy in the short and medium term can only be doubled on promissory rhetoric and nowhere else.
To back up my conclusion, let me take the case of inconsistencies as an example. As most of us know by now, the economy is us. It is about what transactions we contribute to business.
Someone tell me what transactions a baker can contribute to business in a country where government can only provide power for three hours in a day, and that is in the best case scenario. What more when that power is provided from midnight to 3AM? Without struggle, I see no business contribution from such an environment.
In case the government failed to realize it, this is the same for a welder. And it is also the same for a babershop. Exactly as it is the same for a saloon. They have all lost income. They have all lost employment. Consequently, they won’t buy food. This will affect a retail or grocery shop next door. They will not subscribe to that pay TV. The pay TV provider has lost business and will close shop. Jobs will be lost. Business will be lost.
Clearly toll collectors for those toll gates unconstitutionally given away will lose income. Their participation in the economy will be diminished. Consumption and savings from them will slow down.
What if a miracle happened? Such that in spite of this calamitous situation the country is in, the economy posted growth? Government will still have to explain a painful question; whose economy would you have grown?
If you paused just a bit, you may observe that having no power might mean having no clean and safe water. Then people will remember the shallow wells you buried for then pretending that you will provide them with clean and safe drinking water. Should people be forced to revert to unsafe and dirty water from shallow wells, then we should go back to anticipating a disease burden. This may complicate matters even more, no business, no jobs, no income therefore a hungry population burdened with disease. This is trouble for anyone with just minimum love for the universal suffrage.
Should you add aflatoxins; you know from where? Honestly, you don’t want this!
Have you considered other manufacturers? What is the impact on them if their industries aren’t having power and water? Do you how much losses their businesses would incur? Do you know the ramifications of unsustainable losses on the ability of industry to retain workforce? Or even to employ graduates and other job seekers?
What then is the overall effect of proudly telling people that government will increase load shedding? Such times call for government to sacrifice for its people. Some decisions can be expensive, but government must take them for the benefit of people, their businesses; small, medium and large.
From the foregoing, I don’t see the promise of a doubled economy coming to fruition unless it is just numbers placed on the book for that strong peacocks sense of self aggrandizement.
The economy cannot be doubled, later on increased under these circumstances.
Restoring EVERYTHING PATRIOTIC.
MK05.09.2024
GOVT NOT GETTING ENOUGH TAXES FROM MINERALS- Fred M’membe
GOVT NOT GETTING ENOUGH TAXES FROM MINERALS
…. even organizations such as IMF, World Bank & others are laughing at us, says Dr. M’membe
Lusaka… Thursday September 5, 2024
Socialist Party (SP) President Dr Fred M’membe says Zambia is not getting enough taxes from its mineral resources.
Dr. M’membe alleges that even international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and others must be laughing at the country for failing to get the much needed taxes from the minerals.
Dr. M’membe has lamented that foreign entities are the ones benefiting in almost all sectors of the economy.
He said it is sad that foreign based companies have dominated in industries such as telecommunications, construction, energy, poultry and others.
He said instead of the money remaining in the country, it is flying out.
“Are these not the businesses our people are supposed to run? Can Zambians run those businesses and keep that money here and continue to lend our people for them to be innovative in their businesses. And if we are letting this money to fly out, what are we leaving here? We are failing to get enough money from the minerals. Even the IMF, World Bank and others are laughing at us. They are telling us that you are failing to collect enough revenues from the minerals. The same people who defend these institutions,” he said.
“In everything whether it’s fueling stations, it’s foreigners. Fueling stations selling petrol, diesel and paraffin, it’s done by foreigners. They (foreigners) have even gone into poultry, growing vegetables, making building blocks, and they don’t keep their money here in the country. They have devised schemes to take the money out of the country. What is going to remain here for our people to use to develop the country and in the process develop themselves?”
Meanwhile, Dr. M’membe has urged the government not to use shortcuts in restoring the economy.
He says there are many countries in the world that have double digit inflation rates but their economies are doing well.
“They say inflation is too much money chasing few goods. That definition may sound so simple but it is correct. So if you want to bring down the rate of inflation what you need to do is either to increase the goods and services so that there is not much money chasing few goods. But we know that producing more goods and services require a lot of efforts and takes longer. So usually there is a tendency to go to a shorter time and it is easier. It’s just to reduce the money supply so that you don’t have too much money chasing few goods. That you can do in a short period of time of about three to six months, you are done. And the current Zambian goverment decided to do that. Moved from an inflation rate of about 24% to below 10% to a single digit, that can be done any fool can do that very easily,” he explained.
“The countries that have double digits are not fools. You have Turkey with a good economy having a double digits inflation. It’s not that they don’t have good economies but they have realized that they need to strike a balance. If you reduce the money supply so quickly and drastically, you are hitting effective demand. People will have no money to purchase anything. When effective demand is reduced it means also those who are producing are not selling, nobody buys.”
He said such happenings always result in job losses for the workers.
Pope and top Indonesian imam make joint call for peace
Pope Francis has warned against using religion to fuel conflict on his last day of his visit to Indonesia, the first stop in his tour around the Asia Pacific region.
At the Istiqlal mosque in the capital Jakarta, the Pope signed a declaration on religious harmony and environmental protection with the mosque’s grand imam and met with local leaders of six religions.
The 87-year-old had earlier on Tuesday kicked off an 11-day visit to the region, the longest foreign trip of his papacy.
After celebrating mass before an anticipated crowd of 80,000 in Indonesia’s main football stadium later in the day, he will move to Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Singapore.
Speaking at the mosque – the largest in South East Asia – the Pope on Thursday said people from different religions had to know “we are all brothers, all pilgrims, all on our way to God, beyond what differentiates us”.
Humanity is facing a “serious crisis” brought about by war, conflict and the destruction of the environment, he added.
The Pope also visited a 28m (91ft) tunnel that connects Istiqlal mosque to a Catholic cathedral across the street.
He and grand imam Nasaruddin Umar stood at the entrace to the “tunnel of friendship”, which he said was an “eloquent sign” of how people of different beliefs could share roots.
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country and only 3% of its 275 million are Catholics.
Indonesia has six officially recognised religions — Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism.
The Pope has ahead of him a gruelling schedule of public appreances and meetings with Church leaders in the Asia-Pacific, one of only a few places in the world where the Catholic Church is growing in terms of baptised faithful and religious vocations.
In Indonesia, he has been seen moving around and waving to adoring crowds from his wheelchair, underscoring concerns about his spate of health issues.
The Pope had earlier on Wednesday, the second day of his three-day visit, spoke alongside the country’s outgoing president, Joko Widodo in Jakarta.
There, he said Indonesia should live up to its promise of “harmony in diversity”.
He also praised Indonesians for having large families with up to five children.
“Keep it up, you’re an example for everyone, for all the countries that maybe, and this might sound funny, (where) these families prefer to have a cat or a little dog instead of a child,” he said.
His remarks were reminiscent of two years ago, where the Pope said having pets instead of kids diminishes the “humanity” of married couples.
Fake CV lands top ‘engineer’ in jail for 15 years
The man who had been chief engineer at South Africa’s state-owned passenger rail company has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for faking his qualifications.
Once hailed for his successful career, Daniel Mthimkhulu was head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) for five years – earning an annual salary of about 2.8m rand ($156,000; £119,000).
On his CV, the 49-year-old claimed to have had several mechanical engineering qualifications, including a degree from South Africa’s respected Witwatersrand University as well as a doctorate from a German university.
However, the court in Johannesburg heard that he had only completed his high-school education.
“The sentence sends a strong message that the perpetrators of white-collar crime will not go unpunished,” said Phindi Mjonondwane, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Mthimkhulu was arrested in July 2015 shortly after his web of lies began to unravel.
He had started working at Prasa 15 years earlier, shooting up the ranks to become chief engineer, thanks to his fake qualifications.
The court also heard how he had forged a job offer letter from a German company, which encouraged Prasa to increase his salary so the agency would not lose him.
He was also at the forefront of a 600m rand deal to buy dozens of new trains from Spain, but they could not be used in South Africa as they were too high.
“The court took into account the seriousness and prevalence of fraud, the significant financial loss to Prasa and Mthimkhulu’s betrayal of his employer’s trust,” Ms Mjonondwane said.
In an interview from 2019 with local broadcaster eNCA, Mthimkhulu admitted that he did not have a PhD.
“I failed to correct the perception that I have it. I just became comfortable with the title. I did not foresee any damages as a result of this,” he said.
Lt-Gen Seswantsho Godfrey Lebeya, the head of South Africa’s elite Hawks police unit that helped bring the prosecution, also welcomed the sentence.
“This should serve as a lesson to would be fraudsters that crime doesn’t pay,” he said.
The Hawks said this was a case linked to “state capture”, a term used in South Africa to describe widespread corruption that occurred under Jacob Zuma when he was president from 2009 until 2018.
Other organisations and those on social media also welcomed the news, with some noting that it highlighted that basic checks needed to be put in place when hiring people.
“Daniel Mthimkhulu’s story is proof of a failing administration system,” one X user posted.
“Not a lot of companies use qualification verification systems… We definitely have a lot more people working with fraudulent qualifications than we think.”
Mthimkhulu is reportedly planning to appeal.
UK Minister for Africa pledges funding to accelerate growth in Africa agriculture sector
Africa Minister Lord Collins on 4 September announced UK backing for a new investment facility that will accelerate the growth of Africa’s food and agriculture sector.
During his keynote speech at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) 2024, Lord Collins committed to providing £25 million for AgDevCo, a UK-based social impact investor dedicated to investing in African agribusinesses.
In the face of conflict and climate change, communities across Africa are grappling with high levels of hunger and malnutrition. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 4 are undernourished. Investing in Africa’s food markets is a crucial means of working with farmers, helping those at the forefront of the climate crisis and moving towards a world free from poverty.
The UK’s contribution is expected to yield an increase in income of £128 million for the farmers who benefit by 2036.
The Minister for Africa, Lord Collins of Highbury said:
“Improving food markets will have a game-changing impact on individuals and families across Africa. Giving hard-working farmers stable incomes, creating jobs for the youth and helping end malnutrition.
Without access to funding, no matter the drive and ingenuity, too many businesses can’t get off the ground.
That’s why I’m pleased to announce that the UK intends to back a new $50 million facility called AgDevCo Ventures. The UK will put in over half the funds, with AgDevCo collecting funds from other investors. AgDevCo’s funding and expertise will enable early-stage African agribusinesses to grow and increase Africa’s resilience to climate change.”
This funding will support the creation of AgDevCo Ventures, which will channel early-stage investment into small and medium-sized enterprises working within Africa’s agriculture sector. The UK Government is contributing over half of the funds with matching contributions being raised from other investors, resulting in $50 million overall for the planned launch of AgDevCo Ventures in early 2025.
The new funding facility will work with small agricultural enterprises across Africa, with a particular focus on African-owned and managed businesses.
Daniel Hulls, CEO of AgDevCo said:
“We are very grateful for the continued collaboration with the UK government.
“This funding will allow us to leverage third-party capital and go back to investing in small, early-stage businesses.
“We are excited about developing a new AgDevCo Ventures portfolio, and expect it to be high impact, deliver jobs and increased rural incomes by building the next generation of African agri-SMEs.”
There is evidence that small to medium-sized enterprises lack the financing options necessary to scale up. As a result, the UK is working alongside partners to pioneer new ways to finance agribusiness and mobilise other investors.
The demand for food and animal feed in Africa is projected to triple between 2010 and 2050, with the demand for food globally set to increase by 50%. UK investment will look to improve both African and global food and nutrition security by enabling enterprises in the agriculture sector to be better able to cater to the rising demand.
“Let them rot in jail” – Furious Chicco Twala gets ‘drug addict’ sons arrested
SOUTH AFRICA – Music legend Chicco Twala has reportedly washed his hands of his drug-addicted son, Longwe Twala, after turning him and his brother, Sello, to the police after they stole his studio equipment to satisfy their drug cravings.
The arrest of the former child star comes after he was named last week at the Pretoria High Court during court proceedings in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial when lawyer for accused number one in the case, Advocate Thulani Mngomezulu, said a witness will come and testify on behalf of his client (Muzikawukhulelwa Sibiya) that Longwe shot and killed Meyiwa with his father’s 9mm parabellum semi-automatic pistol.
Senzo, the former Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper was shot at the home of his girlfriend and baby mama Kelly Khumalo in Vosloorus. Longwe was visiting his girlfriend, Zandie Khumalo who is Kelly’s younger sister, at the time of the shooting.
Zandie, Kelly and their mother Ntombi Longwe and two of Senzo’s best friends, Mthokozisi Twala and Tumelo Madlala, both from Durban, were all inside the house when intruders allegedly attacked them, shot and killed Senzo.
In a statement, Chicco said Longwe, alongside his brother Sello Twala, broke into his studio while he was away in the USA.
“Good or bad publicity I don’t care. I won’t sit and watch a drug addict continuously stealing from me and be silent,” said Twala in a statement.
“Yes, I can confirm that when I was in the USA, my son Longwe and his brother Sello Twala colluded and stole my equipment in the studio.”
Chicco said he did not care about the fate of the two, after watching many families that he knew get destroyed by their habit.
“Longwe whom I chased away a while ago because of his drug addiction jumped the high walls, broke into my studio, and stole my stuff. I saw the likes of the late Hope Zinde, and many parents killed by their own flesh and blood because of this drug addiction.
“Him and his younger brother have been stealing from me for a long time. Hence, I decided that enough was enough… Let them rot in jail,” said Twala.
According to a source that spoke to Zimoja, Twala had long given up on Longwe.
“Chicco came back excited from the US with good news that he secured a publishing deal between local and American artists.
“The exciting news was spoiled by Longwe’s disappearance and being back on the streets again. Chicco doesn’t care what happens to Longwe anymore,” said the source.
Rick Ross denies conspiracy in ‘20-v-1’ drake feud
Rapper Rick Ross has clarified his role in the public feud with Drake earlier this year, denying any coordinated effort in what Drake referred to as the “20-v-1” battle.
Speaking during the Nightcap Summer Sessions: LIVE event in Houston on Sunday (August 25), hosted by Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, the Grammy-winning rapper dismissed any suggestion of a conspiracy per to a HipHopDx report
“There was no conspiracies,” Ross said when asked about the clash, which saw several artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Future, Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, and The Weeknd, take lyrical shots at Drake.
The feud further became a heated topic after Drake mentioned it in his track “Push Ups,” describing it as a “20-v-1” situation.
The tensions flared after Future and Kendrick Lamar dissed Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s track “We Don’t Trust You,” followed by a sequel titled “We Still Don’t Trust You.”
A$AP Rocky also joined the fray with his track “Show of Hands,” where he appeared to reference Drake’s past relationship with Sophie Brussaux, the mother of Drake’s son, Adonis.
Rocky rapped: “N-ggas swear they b-tch the baddest, I just bagged the worst one/ N-ggas in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or somethin’?/ I smashed before you birthed son, Flacko hit it first, son,” seemingly targeting Drake.
Rocky also took aim at Drake’s recent album For All the Dogs, and stated: “Still don’t trust you, it’s always us, never them/ Heard you dropped your latest shit/ Funny how it just came and went.”
Drake, in turn, appeared to take a shot at Rocky on the “For All the Dogs” track “Another Late Night,” and rapped: “I ain’t Pretty Flacko, b-tch, this shit get really Rocky/ Damn, what? Dirty how I did him in the Wraith,” referencing Rocky’s nickname and their rumored shared history with Rihanna.
The Weeknd, another artist involved, reportedly expressed frustration toward Drake on the track “All to Myself,” which appeared on “We Still Don’t Trust You”.
Ross, meanwhile, coined the nickname “BBL Drizzy” and frequently trolled Drake online.
During a Toronto appearance, Ross was confronted by Drake’s fans amid the ongoing tension.
Despite the constant back-and-forth, Ross downplayed any notion of a calculated effort against Drake, emphasizing that there was no overarching plot involving all the artists.
How Apple reportedly used Will Smith to block app store bill that may have hurt its profits
pple thwarted proposed legislation in Louisiana that would have mandated the use of alternative payment systems for app store developers by threatening to cancel a Will Smith film project in the state, according to a report.
In 2021, Louisiana lawmakers were considering a bill that would have allowed app developers to bypass Apple’s app store payment system. Apple, concerned about a potential threat to its revenue from app store fees, intervened to block the Louisiana bill allowing alternative payment systems, according to The Wall Street Journal.
An Apple employee allegedly warned Tanner Magee, a senior Louisiana lawmaker, that proceeding with the bill would result in Apple halting the production of the film “Emancipation” in the state. The film stars Will Smith as “Whipped Peter,” an ex-slave known for a famous 1863 photograph of his scarred back. “Emancipation” was filmed in Louisiana.
An Apple representative reportedly warned Magee that the company would move the production elsewhere if the app store bill advanced, potentially harming the local economy, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“He basically said that if we didn’t kill the bill, he’d kill the movie and hurt our economy,” Magee told the Journal.
An Apple spokesperson has denied any such threat was made. “We always operate with the highest standards of integrity, and allegations that we have not in this instance are false,” the Apple spokesman told the newspaper.
Recently, Apple reportedly influenced the defeat of another proposed Louisiana bill requiring smartphone users to verify their age. Earlier this year, state legislator Kim Carver told The Wall Street Journal that Apple lobbyists inundated him with “panicked” text messages when they learned his intention to include the age verification provision in a bill to protect children from social media and tech risks.
Louisiana was among the first states to attempt to mandate age verification for Apple device users. Child safety advocates argued that Apple and Google, as the dominant smartphone operating system providers, are best positioned to protect children through age verification.
Companies like Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and Match Group supported this stance, arguing that app developers should not bear this responsibility alone.
“Rather than putting the onus on parents to upload sensitive information or provide proof of identity for their teen’s age for every single app their children use, app stores can provide a central place for families to do this,” a Meta spokesperson told the Journal.
A representative for Match Group, whose portfolio of companies includes Tinder and Bumble, agreed, telling the Journal: “Kids are less safe when responsibility is limited only to developers.”
Carver’s proposal included substantial fines for companies failing to make “reasonable efforts” to verify users’ ages. Apple strongly opposed the legislation, accusing Carver of incorporating a “poison pill from Meta.”
Carver reported being inundated with messages from Apple lobbyists “all day, every day.”
“At that point, I was like, ‘OK, we’re done talking,’” Carver told the Journal. “We had the bill pass unanimously on the house floor [without the provision that would have obligated Apple].”
Ice Spice’s former friend Cleotrapa alleges the rapper is using Ozempic amid feud
Ice Spice’s former friend Cleotrapa has alleged that the “Barbie World” rapper is using Ozempic, a medication commonly associated with weight loss, amid their escalating online feud.
According to a Daily Mail report, Ice Spice, originally known as Isis Naija Gaston, previously denied using the drug after her noticeably slimmer appearance fueled public speculation.
The tension between the two then intensified when Cleotrapa referenced the Ozempic rumors, following a remark by the 24-year-old rapper who described her appetite as a “vacuum.”
“Imagine being called big by someone that was just big. I’m going to bed, bro, Ozempic got y’all gassed & fatphobic now? BET,” Cleotrapa tweeted in response to Ice Spice.
The tweet followed a series of six TikTok videos where Cleotrapa, who had opened for several shows on Ice Spice’s Y2K tour, aired grievances about the rapper. Cleotrapa claimed that despite being part of the tour, production refused to buy her a chicken salad.
In one of the videos, she recounted the incident: “The hairstylist shows me a menu and says, ‘Oh, production is going to order food for everyone, pick what you want.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’m getting the chicken salad just like you.’ ” She added that production later messaged her saying, “Cleo is not a part of the budget.”
“How am I not part of the budget, but y’all invited me on tour?” she questioned.
Ice Spice responded on X Space, and said, “Crashing out is sad, you guys.” She continued, “The scary part of fame is the moment someone feels like they can’t use your platform anymore or get what they want, that’s when they crash out. I’m noticing a pattern.”
She also detailed how she invited Cleotrapa on tour after they added an extra bus, noting, “That’s what the f**k I get for trying to be a good person.” Ice Spice further commented, “Just to leave out so many details is crazy.”
The feud escalated when Ice Spice sarcastically called Cleotrapa a “vacuum,” referencing a previous dining experience. “Bch, you not going to tell the people how we was at an Italian restaurant and you ate so much fking food, you fking vacuum, that the server was like, ‘Where did the food go?’” Ice Spice said.
This came after Ice Spice’s denial of Ozempic rumors. She addressed the speculation during an X Space session, and said to her fans, “Oh my God! Like, what even is Ozempic? What the f–k is that? Genuinely, what is that?”
The “Princess Diana” rapper credited her weight loss to intense training and her demanding tour schedule. “Like, you lazy b—es never heard of the gym? It’s called the gym, it’s called eating healthy, it’s called being on tour,” she said, adding, “Maybe if I was sitting home all f—ing day, it would be easier to stay big.”
Princess Diana found Charles’ affair unbearable – Diana’s former dance teacher
The late Princess Diana found her marriage to Prince Charles ‘unbearable’ due to his cheating but was determined to put her family first, her former dance teacher claims.
Diana’s former dance teacher, Anne Allan revealed the heartbreaking toll Princess Diana’s marital woes once took on the royal, after she confided in her about her ailing marriage to then-Prince Charles.
Recounting her experience of teaching the Princess to dance in her new memoir Dancing With Diana, over the course of nine years, Anne became a source of comfort to Diana as she attended regular dancing classes.
Much of the difficulty in her marriage came from Charles’ alleged affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, his married former lover, something that she had hoped they could work their way through.
Diana and Allan first met just after Diana’s wedding to Charles in 1981, with their friendship continuing throughout the next decade as the Princess navigated multiple life challenges including the birth of her two children Princes William and Harry, and the breakdown of her marriage to the Prince of Wales.
Recounting a conversation Anne had shared with Diana in an excerpt from her book which was published in People, she wrote:
“In pure despair, she dropped to the floor, sobbing. I was distressed for her. I could feel the pain and turmoil she was in. I let her just cry.”
“After a few minutes, apologising profusely for dumping on me when I had enough on my mind, she started to talk through the tears.
“I just don’t know what to do, Anne. I find myself in an unbearable situation. I haven’t seen Charles for weeks and he doesn’t want to talk to me. I thought he would come back to me, and we could work things out. How do I go on when I’m not wanted?” Her hurt was deep, and she could not see a way through it. My heart was broken for her.”
Recalling the “deep anxiety and dread” Diana had felt, Anne revealed that the question of separation had been briefly brought up at this point, however, neither she nor the Princess thought it was a good option at that time.
She continued, writing: “The question of separation had been brought up, but I didn’t believe that separation was an option and told her. The palace would never agree, and I honestly didn’t think that was what she wanted. Diana wanted Charles to be with her and to love her. Even though she was in her own romantic affair, at this point, Charles was still the man she desired and that was why it was so agonising for her. “Keeping my family together is the most important thing to me,” she said, still crying.”
Sadly, despite Diana’s wishes, the couple did eventually separate in 1992, before formally divorcing in 1996, just one year before Diana’s tragic death in a Paris car crash.
Prince Charles went on to marry Camilla in 2005 and acceded to the throne in 2022 when he became King following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
Footballer Rafa Mir ‘banned from Valencia training’ following arrest on suspicion of alleged sexual assault
Valencia have reportedly banned former Wolves striker Rafa Mir from training after he was arrested on suspicion of an alleged s3xual assault against a 25-year-old woman.
The 27-year-old, who recently joined Valencia on loan from Sevilla, was released on bail on Wednesday after appearing in court.
Mir had spent the previous two days in police custody.
His lawyer Jaime Campaner appeared at court on Wednesday morning in which he said that the relationship was ‘without a doubt’ consensual.
The conditions of his bail include having to surrender his passport, a restraining order and ban on contacting the alleged victim, and signing in at the courthouse on a weekly basis.
Spanish news agency EFE reported that Valencia have banned Mir from attending training on Thursday and Friday.
Valencia coach Ruben Baraja is expected to give his squad the weekend off during the international break, with several having been called up to their national teams.
The La Liga side will reportedly use the four days to analyse Mir’s situation.
On Tuesday, the Civil Guard confirmed that a LaLiga footballer had been arrested but denied Spanish media reports that a second man was also in custody at present.
A spokesman for the force in Valencia said: ‘We can confirm a LaLiga footballer has been arrested over an alleged sexual assault.
‘No one else has been arrested at the moment but that may change later.’ He added: ‘The man who has been detained is currently in police custody.’
Spanish newspaper Marca reported claims that a ‘friend of the footballer’ was arrested a day after Mir for an alleged s3xual assault reported by a 21-year-old woman.
Valencia Football Club said in a statement earlier this week: ‘In relation to the press reports regarding the arrest of Valencia CF player Rafa Mir, the club is aware of the arrest and, in the absence of any more details about it, can only state for the time being that it will cooperate fully with whatever the courts may require.
Spanish media have reported the alleged s3x assault happened during a private party at the footballer’s home after they were invited over after meeting at a nightclub.
Cadena Ser said local police had initially been called to the house to deal with reports of a possible altercation and put an end to the bash before leaving.
Man United squad wages revealed for the 2024-25 season
Manchester United’s wages for the 2024-25 season have been revealed with three players currently earning more than £300,000 a week.
Captain Bruno Fernandes and Brazilian midfielder Casemiro are at the top of the list at £375,000 a week.
As reported by the Sun, the top two are followed by England internationals Marcus Rashford (£350,000) and Mason Mount (£250,000).
See the full list below…
Man United player wages
Casemiro – £375,000
Bruno Fernandes – £375,000
Marcus Rashford – £350,000
Mason Mount – £250,000
Antony £200,000
Matthijs de Ligt – £195,000
Harry Maguire – £190,000
Christian Eriksen – £150,000
Luke Shaw – £150,000
Victor Lindelof – £120,000
Lisandro Martinez – £120,000
Andre Onana – £120,000
Leny Yoro – £115,000
Joshua Zirkzee – £105,000
Diogo Dalot – £85,000
Rasmus Hojlund – £85,000
Tyrell Malacia – £75,000
Jonny Evans – £65,000
Alejandro Garnacho – £50,000
Tom Heaton – £45,000
Altay Bayindir – £35,000
Amad Diallo – £29,000
Kobbie Mainoo – £20,000
Noussair Mazraoui – Unknown
Manuel Ugarte – Unknown
Manchester United’s wages for the 2024-25 season have been revealed with three players currently earning more than £300,000 a week.
Captain Bruno Fernandes and Brazilian midfielder Casemiro are at the top of the list at £375,000 a week.
As reported by the Sun, the top two are followed by England internationals Marcus Rashford (£350,000) and Mason Mount (£250,000).
See the full list below…
Man United player wages
Casemiro – £375,000
Bruno Fernandes – £375,000
Marcus Rashford – £350,000
Mason Mount – £250,000
Antony £200,000
Matthijs de Ligt – £195,000
Harry Maguire – £190,000
Christian Eriksen – £150,000
Luke Shaw – £150,000
Victor Lindelof – £120,000
Lisandro Martinez – £120,000
Andre Onana – £120,000
Leny Yoro – £115,000
Joshua Zirkzee – £105,000
Diogo Dalot – £85,000
Rasmus Hojlund – £85,000
Tyrell Malacia – £75,000
Jonny Evans – £65,000
Alejandro Garnacho – £50,000
Tom Heaton – £45,000
Altay Bayindir – £35,000
Amad Diallo – £29,000
Kobbie Mainoo – £20,000
Noussair Mazraoui – Unknown
Manuel Ugarte – Unknown
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba Resigns Amid Major Government Shake-Up
KYIV — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has resigned, as announced by the country’s parliamentary speaker on Wednesday. This marks a significant shift in Kyiv’s leadership amid the largest government overhaul since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The reshuffle of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime administration comes at a critical juncture, with Russian forces intensifying their offensive in the east and launching fresh attacks on cities.
On Tuesday night, Lviv, a western city typically less affected by the conflict, was struck by missiles, resulting in seven deaths.
Kuleba, who has held the foreign minister role since 2020, played a crucial part in Ukraine’s efforts to secure foreign weaponry and advocate for relaxed restrictions on its use, especially for repelling bombardments.
Last spring, Kuleba was instrumental in pushing for the transfer of unused Patriot air defense systems from other countries to Ukraine, warning of the risks of delayed deliveries.
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Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Ukrainian parliamentary speaker, shared a handwritten resignation letter from Kuleba, dated September 4, requesting lawmakers to accept his resignation.
In addition to Kuleba, several senior Ukrainian officials resigned recently, including arms chief Oleksandr Kamyshin, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska, Deputy Prime Ministers Iryna Vereshchuk and Olha Stefanishyna, as well as Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets and Vitaliy Koval, head of the state property fund.
Some of these officials are anticipated to take up new roles shortly.
As the conflict drags into its 30th month, Kyiv seeks new strategies to counter Russian advances. President Zelensky plans to present a “victory plan” during an upcoming visit to the United States, where November’s presidential election could influence continued support for Ukraine.
“The coming autumn will be crucial for Ukraine. Our state institutions must be aligned to achieve the necessary results,” Zelensky said in his address on Tuesday.
Recent weeks have seen Russia escalate attacks on Ukrainian cities almost daily. A missile strike on a military institute and nearby hospital in Poltava on Tuesday resulted in over 50 deaths. Russia described this as an attack on a training center for armed forces with foreign instructors.
The Lviv attack, which hit a residential area, killed at least seven people, including three children. Mayor Andriy Sadoviy shared a photo of a family who perished in the strike, highlighting the tragedy.
Another attack on Kryvyi Rih injured at least five civilians, with recent assaults also targeting Kyiv and Kharkiv, the latter being particularly vulnerable due to its proximity to the Russian border.
Ukraine continues to urge its allies, particularly the United States, to lift restrictions on Western weapons to enable long-range strikes inside Russia. While some restrictions were eased in May following a cross-border attack into the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian officials argue that more action is needed.
In a recent CNN interview before his resignation, Kuleba stressed the need for Western nations to decide on allowing strikes against military airfields in Russia and to provide more missiles. “This isn’t complicated,” he said. “It’s simply a matter of timely decisions.”
Last month, Ukraine carried out a surprise attack in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, likely aiming to divert Russian troops and exert pressure on President Putin. Despite Kyiv’s control over some Russian territory and the capture of numerous Russian POWs, Putin remains focused on the eastern front.
UNLIKE YOUR BESTIE HH, I CARE: A RESPONSE TO LAURA MITI- Fred M’membe
UNLIKE YOUR BESTIE, I CARE: A RESPONSE TO LAURA MITI
By Fred M’membe
In a desperate bid to shift public attention from the many failures of the man she has declared as “the best president of Zambia”, Miss Laura Miti, a self-declared supporter of Mr Hakainde Hichilema, has resorted to scaremongering tactics by telling voters that they should be afraid of my possible presidency of Zambia.
Normally, I would have ignored Laura’s comments given that she is clearly conflicted. As a self-declared cadre of my political competitor, it is unfair to expect Laura to see anything appealing in the political opponents of the man she supports fanatically. Like most praise singers, Laura remains wilfully blind to the hardships and untold miseries that Mr Hichilema has unleashed on our people. These include unprecedented consecutive 48-hours of load shedding, mass hunger, the highest cost of living in the history of our country, high-level corruption in government, rampant tribalism and regionalism in public appointments, attacks on democracy and human rights violations condemned by local civic institutions and major world bodies such as Human Rights Watch and the United Nations, and the worst economic crisis in years.
Mr Hichilema, a proven liar and revenge-driven politician with an eggshell ego in need of constant pampering, has also shown the highest level of inferiority complex and lack of patriotism by inviting foreigners to audit our defence forces, to audit our mineral wealth underground, and even to run the crucial Ministry of Finance, the heartbeat of our Republic This is a ministry that his administration has now turned into a laboratory for all sorts of shady experiments presided over by – to use Dr Grieve Chelwa’s phrase – white “Boys and Girls”. Such is the inferiority complex of Mr Hichilema that foreigners such as the Tony Blair Foundation and the London School of Economics are now the recruiting agencies for work in the Zambian civil service. No self -respecting country that has been independent for 60 years will turn to foreigners to hire workers for its civil service!
I say all this not to distract attention from what Laura has said – the need to discuss the importance of character in leadership, including my own – but to provide context to why she is resorting to these scare tactics about me. Laura is afraid that the man she supports to a point of zealotry is on his way out because Zambians have seen through him. Our people now know that Mr Hichilema does not care about them. In fact, if there is any one thing that can be said about Mr Hichilema, it is that HE DOES NOT CARE about the suffering of the masses of our people. HE DOES NOT CARE about putting Zambia first. HE DOES NOT CARE about our democracy. HE DOES NOT CARE that people ate being fed toxic mealie meal because his visionless regime sold all our maize reserves before importing possible GMOs. HE DOES NOT CARE about human rights. HE DOES NOT CARE about corruption in government. HE DOES NOT CARE about fanning tribal and regional divisions through appointments to public service. HE DOES NOT CARE about many, many things of public interest that should trouble any patriot who has vestige of love for their country.
These are all issues I CARE about because they have been at the heart of my public life: the plight of our people, the defence of democracy and human rights in Zambia, the protection of our resources and homeland from foreign commercial and imperial influences, the importance of promoting national unity and fighting corruption, and of bringing collective leadership to our shared struggles. I have been arrested in defence of these issues over the last 35 years. I am not saying this to boast like Laura’s bestie lies to do. I am merely stating a matter of public record. Mr Hichilema, Laura’s visionless bestie, he has no history of defending public interest or associating himself with public causes, so it is not surprising that he has remained loyal to private commercial interests. Before he joined politics, his entire life was spent in the private sector where accumulation rather than public interest and the humanity of people is the driving energy. It is therefore not surprising that all he cares about is nursing his fragile ego, his businesses, his white friends, and his regionalism. After obtaining power by false pretences, Zambians have seen through Mr Hichilema, and have resolved to vote him out at the next election. This reality is dawning on him, and it is scaring his supporters like Laura. This reality explains why they are panicking and resorting to scaremongering tactics that are even false.
Yes, character is important in a public leader, and I welcome any discussion about my own character, but such a discussion must be based on facts and the understanding of the relevant facts. In the end, Zambians are intelligent enough to see through Laura’s lies and desperate attempt to shield the mounting failures of her bestie. They will vote for whoever they want, for whoever they think best represents their interests, even if this might be someone that Laura does not like. Laura has the right to support her bestie and to recruit others towards her partisan cause, but she has no right to falsify historical records.
In the service of the UPND and her bestie, who have made similar claims before, Laura claims that The Post newspaper operated like “the current Watchdog and other faceless online publications”. This is not true. Like Laura herself acknowledges, I was the face of The Post, a company with legal standing, known address and known people whom anyone aggrieved could sue if they felt aggrieved by its actions. And many people indeed sued The Post for one reason or another. The company won some cases and lost others. Who runs Watchdog and Koswe? Who do I sue if i feel aggrieved? Laura’s bestie?
Laura also takes issue with The Post based on the following:
1. How cruelly former Vice President George Kunda’s illness was reported. I will leave it there.
COMMENT: no issue is raised here for discussion. Laura has the right to feel different from other people.
2. UPND founder, Anderson Mazoka’s illness received similar unfeeling attention.
COMMENT: The Post only reported what other people said. It provided a platform to everyone including Mr Mazoka himself and what others thought about his illness. Laura herself had a weekly column in The Post. In one of them, she asked Mr Mazoka to step down on health grounds. Were we wrong to carry her views?
3. President Mwanawasa was a “cabbage” because of the unfortunate car accident he had had.
COMMENT: The records are there. The first person who referred to Mr Mwanawasa as a cabbage was Dipak Patel, then MP for Lusaka central constituency, in January 2002. Again, The Post simply published his views, and I was consequently arrested by police for alleged defamation alongside Dipak over this story. In February 2002, Dipak apologised to Levy, and the case was dropped. In later years, Michael Sata took the cabbage name and used it in his politics.
4. The country was treated to details (true or not) of former President Lungu’s health.
COMMENT: no issue is raised here for discussion. Laura has the right to feel different from other people.
5. As for Rupiah Banda! Goodness! The butchering he got that had nothing to do with anything that could be called fair comment, after President Mwanawasa died, was alarming.
COMMENT: no issue is raised here for discussion. Laura has the right to feel different from other people.
Then we move on to the more troubling stuff:
6. The Post carried out a vicious and nationally harmful tribal campaign against the Tonga that was the beginning of the dark period we suffered in the decade between 2011 and 2021. (This, for me, was Fred’s greatest and unforgivable sin against Zambia.)
COMMENT: Again, The Post provided coverage on the succession politics that followed the UPND in the wake of the death of its founding president Mr Mazoka. The UPND was the biggest opposition party at the time (2001-2006) and some of its leaders such as Mr Rex Natala, Syacheye Madyenkunku and Ackson Sejani insisted that “only a Tonga must succeed Mazoka”. Laura disagreed with these views, as did many other people, and The Post published her views. In fact, at one time, Laura had an exchange with Sejani over this issue of tribalism in the UPND, and The Post published their views. Was the newspaper wrong provide a platform for people to express their different views? Again, these issues must be understood within their context. Historian Sishuwa Sishuwa has written a scholarly and fair account of these political developments that draws on interviews with different actors and the roles of many different people including Laura and her bestie, Mr Hichilema:
7. He has shown a frightening inconsistency in his positions that seem to be decided only by self-interest. Having maligned Former President, Michael Sata, for years, Fred seemed to have decided that the PF Leader was the only one who could help him punish Rupiah Banda for contesting elections, and thus preventing Fred’s preferred candidate – Peter Mangande. (I always agreed, by the way, that Mr Mangande would have been way better for Zambia than RB, but to attack him for wanting an office within his grasp was inexplicable.) Anyhow, the issue is the dizzying 180-degree turnabout Fred then made on his public view of Michael Sata. He went on a sanitisation campaign that would put bleach plus the strongest disinfectant known to man to shame. He successfully became kingmaker of a man he had suggested was the political pits.
COMMENT: Again, The Post simply provided coverage to all politicians including Laura’s bestie and his party. I am glad Laura mentions my support for Peter Magande, a man who was a patriot and would never have allowed the auctioning of our minerals in the manner that Laura’s bestie is doing. Laura has previously said I detest Tongas. How does someone who detests Tongas support Peter Magande for presidency? How does someone who detest Tongas marry a Tonga?
8. Related to 7, is the simple question of how a politician, who has lived an unapologetic capitalist life, with attendant accumulation of wealth and expansionist business strategies, now says he is a lifelong socialist.
COMMENT: Laura does not understand Socialism. I invite her to come for a class on the managing of socialism. I promise to make some time and teach her. If socialism is about being poor, then the whole Zambia is a nation of socialists, for majority of our people are people.
I can go on but there is no need to bore people with epic narratives. I believe I have shown why Laura should be ignored. So, if I do not respond to what she says next time, please understand. She is worried about the declining political fortunes of her bestie and is panicking. I believe I have demonstrated that Laura is suffering from cognitive dissonance. Seeing the epic failures of her bestie, and unable to criticise him because of her zealotry towards him, she can only attack those publicising his failures such as the UN and those she sees as potential heirs to the throne. I ask everyone to bear with Laura. She is going through a lot. Please let us give Laura sufficient time to mourn, to mourn the impending defeat of her bestie in 2026. For Zambians have decided that come 2026, the Hungry Hyena that is eating their lives is going! ALEYA!
Keynote Address by H.E. Xi Jinping
Keynote Address by H.E. Xi Jinping
President of the People’s Republic of China
At the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Summit of
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
*Beijing, September 5, 2024*
Your Excellency President Bassirou Diomaye Faye,
Your Excellency President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, Chairperson of the African Union (AU),
Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation,
Your Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations,
Your Excellency Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission,
Friends and Distinguished Guests,
Blossoms in spring turn into fruits in autumn, and a bumper harvest is the reward of hard work. In this season of harvest, I am delighted to gather together with so many old and new friends in Beijing to discuss grand plans for China-Africa friendship and cooperation in the new era. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, I extend a warm welcome to you all!
The friendship between China and Africa transcends time and space, surmounts mountains and oceans, and passes down through generations. The founding of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000 was a milestone in the history of China-Africa relations. Over the past 24 years, especially in the new era, China has advanced forward hand in hand with our African brothers and sisters in the spirit of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith. We stand shoulder to shoulder with each other to firmly defend our legitimate rights and interests as once-in-a-century changes sweep across the world. We get stronger and more resilient together by riding the tide of economic globalization, delivering tangible benefits to billions of ordinary Chinese and Africans. We share weal and woe in fighting natural disasters and epidemics together, creating touching stories of China-Africa friendship. We always empathize with and support each other, setting a stellar example of a new type of international relations.
Thanks to nearly 70 years of tireless efforts from both sides, the China-Africa relationship is now at its best in history. With its future growth in mind, I propose that bilateral relations between China and all African countries having diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the level of strategic relations, and that the overall characterization of China-Africa relations be elevated to an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
Friends and Distinguished Guests,
Modernization is an inalienable right of all countries. But the Western approach to it has inflicted immense sufferings on developing countries. Since the end of World War II, Third World nations, represented by China and Africa countries, have achieved independence and development one after another, and have been endeavoring to redress the historical injustices of the modernization process. As we are about to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, we are going all out to build a great modern socialist country in all respects and pursue national rejuvenation through a Chinese path to modernization. Africa is also awakening again, and the continent is marching in solid strides toward the modernization goals set forth in the AU’s Agenda 2063. China and Africa’s joint pursuit of modernization will set off a wave of modernization in the Global South, and open a new chapter in our drive for a community with a shared future for mankind.
—We should jointly advance modernization that is just and equitable. In promoting modernization, we should not only follow the general rules, but also act in light of our national realities. China is ready to increase exchanges of governance experience with Africa, support all countries in exploring modernization paths befitting their national conditions, and help ensure equal rights and equal opportunities for all countries.
—We should jointly advance modernization that is open and win-win. Mutually beneficial cooperation is the sunny road to the betterment of long-term and fundamental interests of all countries. China is ready to deepen cooperation with Africa in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment, promote exemplary, high-quality Belt and Road cooperation projects, and build together a model for the delivery of the Global Development Initiative.
—We should jointly advance modernization that puts the people first. The ultimate goal of modernization is the free and full development of human beings. China will work vigorously with Africa to promote personnel training, poverty reduction and employment, enhance the sense of gain, happiness and security of the people in the course of modernization, and ensure that all will benefit from the process.
—We should jointly advance modernization featuring diversity and inclusiveness. Well-balanced material and spiritual advancement is a lofty objective of modernization. China will enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Africa, champion mutual respect, inclusiveness and coexistence of different civilizations on our way to modernization, and strive together for more fruitful outcomes under the Global Civilization Initiative.
—We should jointly advance modernization that is eco-friendly. Green development is a hallmark of modernization in the new era. China is ready to help Africa build “green growth engines,” narrow the gap in energy accessibility, adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and jointly push for the global transition to green and low-carbon development.
—We should jointly advance modernization underpinned by peace and security. Modernization would not be possible without a peaceful and stable environment for development. China is ready to help Africa improve its capacity in safeguarding peace and stability independently, prioritize Africa in implementing the Global Security Initiative (GSI), promote mutual reinforcement of high-quality development and greater security, and work together with Africa to uphold world peace and stability.
Friends and Distinguished Guests,
China and Africa account for one-third of the world population. Without our modernization, there will be no global modernization. In the next three years, China will work with Africa to take the following ten partnership actions for modernization to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernization.
First, the Partnership Action for Mutual Learning among Civilizations. China is ready to work with Africa to build a platform for governance experience sharing, a China-Africa knowledge network for development, and 25 centers on China and Africa studies. We will make better use of Africa’s leadership academies to cultivate talents for governance, and invite 1,000 members of African political parties to China to deepen exchanges of experience in party and state governance.
Second, the Partnership Action for Trade Prosperity. China will voluntarily and unilaterally open its market wider. We have decided to give all LDCs having diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines. This has made China the first major developing country and the first major economy to take such a step. It will help turn China’s big market into Africa’s big opportunity. China will expand market access for African agricultural products, deepen cooperation with Africa in e-commerce and other areas, and launch a “China-Africa quality enhancement program.” We are prepared to enter into framework agreements on economic partnership for shared development with African countries to provide long-term, stable and predictable institutional guarantee for trade and investment between the two sides.
Third, the Partnership Action for Industrial Chain Cooperation. China will foster industry cooperation growth clusters with Africa, push forward the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Econ
omic and Trade Cooperation, and launch an “African SMEs empowerment program.” We will build with Africa a digital technology cooperation center and initiate 20 digital demonstration projects so as to embrace together the latest round of technological revolution and industrial transformation.
Fourth, the Partnership Action for Connectivity. China is prepared to carry out 30 infrastructure connectivity projects in Africa, promote together high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and put in place a China-Africa network featuring land-sea links and coordinated development. We are ready to assist in the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and deepen logistics and financial cooperation for the benefit of trans-regional development in Africa.
Fifth, the Partnership Action for Development Cooperation. China is ready to release the Joint Statement on Deepening Cooperation within the Framework of the Global Development Initiative with Africa, and implement 1,000 “small and beautiful” livelihood projects. We will replenish the China-World Bank Group Partnership Facility to boost Africa’s development. We support Africa in hosting the 2026 Youth Olympic Games and the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. We will work together with Africa to deliver more fruits of development to the two peoples.
Sixth, the Partnership Action for Health. China is ready to establish with Africa a hospitals alliance and joint medical centers. We will send 2,000 medical personnel to Africa, and launch 20 programs of health facilities and malaria treatment. We will encourage Chinese companies to invest in Africa’s pharmaceutical production, and continue to do what we can to help Africa with epidemic response. We support the development of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen public health capacity in all African countries.
Seventh, the Partnership Action for Agriculture and Livelihoods. China will provide Africa with RMB1 billion yuan in emergency food assistance, build 100,000 mu (about 6,670 hectares) of standardized agriculture demonstration areas in Africa, send 500 agricultural experts, and establish a China-Africa agricultural science and technology innovation alliance. We will implement 500 programs in Africa to promote community welfare. We will also encourage two-way investment for new business operations by Chinese and African companies, enable Africa to retain added value, and create at least one million jobs for Africa.
Eighth, the Partnership Action for People-to-People Exchanges. China will implement with Africa more solidly the Future of Africa—Vocational Education Cooperation Plan, establish together an engineering technology academy, and build ten Luban Workshops. We will provide 60,000 training opportunities to Africa, mainly for women and youths. We will launch with Africa a Cultural Silk Road program as well as an initiative of cooperation on innovation in radio, TV and audio and visual programs. The two sides have agreed to designate 2026 as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
Ninth, the Partnership Action for Green Development. China is ready to launch 30 clean energy projects in Africa, put in place meteorological early warning systems, and carry out cooperation in disaster prevention, mitigation and relief as well as biodiversity conservation. We will create a China-Africa forum on peaceful use of nuclear technology, establish together 30 joint laboratories, and collaborate on satellite remote sensing and lunar and deep-space exploration. All this is designed to help with green development in Africa.
Tenth, the Partnership Action for Common Security. China is ready to build with Africa a partnership for implementing the GSI, and make it a fine example of GSI cooperation. We will give Africa RMB1 billion yuan of grants in military assistance, provide training for 6,000 military personnel and 1,000 police and law enforcement officers from Africa, and invite 500 young African military officers to visit China. The two sides will conduct joint military exercises, training and patrol, carry out an “action for a mine-free Africa,” and jointly ensure the safety of personnel and projects.
To implement the ten partnership actions, the Chinese government will provide RMB360 billion yuan of financial support through the next three years. This breaks down into RMB210 billion yuan of credit line, RMB80 billion yuan of assistance in various forms, and at least RMB70 billion yuan of investment in Africa by Chinese companies. In addition, China will encourage and support Africa in issuing panda bonds in China to enhance our results-oriented cooperation in all areas.
Friends and Distinguished Guests,
The Communist Party of China held in July the successful Third Plenary Session of its 20th Central Committee, laying out systematic plans for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. This will profoundly further transform China. It will also provide new opportunities and new driving forces for African countries and for our joint pursuit of modernization.
As an African proverb goes, a friend is someone you share the path with. On the path to modernization, no one, and no country, should be left behind. Let us rally the more than 2.8 billion Chinese and African people into a powerful force on our shared path toward modernization, promote modernization of the Global South with China-Africa modernization, and write a new magnificent chapter of development in human history. Let us join hands to bring about a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress for our world.
Thank you.
All rights reserved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
Luanshya hubby allegedly beats wife to death after finding her with another man in a toilet
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Mwebantu
A 45-year-old Luanshya gym instructor has been apprehended after he allegedly beat his wife to death.
Mwika Chilaisha is believed to have found his wife Lunar Kalaba aged 35 with another man who was half naked in the toilet of a bar that the couple owned.
Angered by the situation, Chilaisha who is also a stores man at Zambia Combined Cadet Force allegedly started beating the two, but the other man, Nathan Simukoko ran away.
Copperbelt Province Commanding officer Peacewell Mweemba said the incident occurred today between 01:00 and 02:00 hours at a bar known as ‘Paka Dry’ of Mpatamati area of Luanshya.
He said the incident was reported by the victim’s brother.
“Brief facts of the matter are that Chilaisha and the victim (wife) operates a bar known Paka Dry within Section 25 in Mpatamatu. On September 4th, 2024 he was selling at his bar since the usual barman had followed a customer who was owing some money for beers. Yesterday,between 16:00 hours and 17:00 hours, his wife, Lunar Kalaba passed through the bar and asked the husband for a K5 which she was not given and she left,” he said.
Mr Mweemba said around 19:30 hours, the barman returned and resumed his work, while the suspect went home, leaving his wife at the bar.
“While he was sleeping, his wife went home with Nathan Simukoko a customer around midnight .When the husband tried to find out from the wife why she went with the customer home she responded that she had kept some fish for him in the fridge which he had gone to collect,” he said.
He explained that after a short period of time, the two left.
Mr Mweemba said after noticing that his wife had taken too long, the suspect decided to follow the wife and when he reached the bar premises, he heard some voices coming from the toilet.
“He went there only to find Simukoko Nathan half naked and the wife also was in the toilet. He beat up the two of them. However, Mr Simukoko managed to escape and he remained with the wife who he beat until she became unconscious,” he said.
Mr Mweemba explained that upon being taken to the clinic by the bar man, the suspects wife was pronounced dead upon arrival.
(Mwebantu, Thursday, September 5th, 2024)
Luanshya hubby allegedly beats wife to de
KAMANGA SUES SPORTS MINISTER
FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga has sued Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts Elvis Nkandu and the association’s former general secretary Adrian Kashala for defamation of character.
In the lawsuit, Mr Kamanga wants the court to order the minister and Mr Kashala to pay damages for injuring his reputation by accusing him of being corrupt and disrespectful to the same minister.
He also complains that Mr Nkandu has harboured and exhibited a pronounced bias against him stemming from the plaintiff’s electoral victories over his preferred candidate, former FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya.
Mr Kamanga submits that the minister’s bias has not been hidden from the public domain and it was rightly pointed out in the newspaper article dated Saturday 13, 2024.
He submits that Mr Nkandu maliciously made several unsubstantiated public allegations against him, including a statement made in a recorded video on April 18, 2024.
“Mr Nkandu accused the claimant [Mr Kamanga] of corrupt practices, specifically alleging that the plaintiff had ‘corrupted ” FAZ councillors with suits from Kamwala and cash payments of K5, 000”.
On the other hand, it is alleged that Mr Kashala made false representations to various media outlets, alleging that the plaintiff was complicit in the mismanagement of FIFA- funded stadia rehabilitation projects.
“These statements were made with reckless disregard for the truth and with the intent to deflect responsibility from Kashala’s own misconduct”.
Mr Kamanga complains that the defendants’ malicious campaign has disrupted the smooth functioning of FAZ, impairing its ability to fulfill its mandate and negatively impacting football administration in Zambia.
“The plaintiff [Mr Kamanga] has endured public ridicule, loss of personal and professional esteem, and has suffered from anxiety and stress directly attributable to the defendants’ conduct”.
In the court documents before the High Court, Mr Kamanga submits that prior to his ministerial appointment, Nkandu was actively involved in FAZ.
Mr Nkandu actively participated in the 2016 FAZ presidential elections as campaign manager for Mr Bwalya, the plaintiff’s major opponent in that election.
He also adds that Mr Kashala, during his tenure as general secretary, was responsible for the execution and management of FIFA funded stadia rehabilitation projects.
“Despite his fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of FAZ, Kashala awarded contracts to entities with dubious credentials, without conducting the requisite due diligence or ensuring adherence to best practices in procurement and project management”.
Mr Kashala’s gross dereliction of duty led to significant project delays and financial mismanagement, tarnishing the reputation of FAZ.
Upon Mr Kashala’s voluntary resignation in March 2024, he made an unfounded demand for a terminal package from FAZ, which was lawfully denied based on lawyers and FAZ policy that deemed him unentitled to get the money.
Unhappy with the development, Mr Kashala, has unjustifiably attributed his grievances to the Mr Kamanga, despite knowing that the decision was a collective one based on lawful and procedural grounds.
(Mwebantu, Thursday, September 5th, 2024)
KASUMBALESA, CHIRUNDU BORDERS CONCESSIONED…giving away state assets and revenue to the private sector, continues- Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
KASUMBALESA, CHIRUNDU BORDERS CONCESSIONED
…giving away state assets and revenue to the private sector, continues…
By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
With about 800-3,000 northbound trucks trying to squeeze through Kasumbalesa border every day, and paying crossing fees of $100 per truck, Kasumbalesa is one of the most revenue generating border crossing together with Nakonde, Kazungula, Livingstone and Chirundu the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) deoend on to raise revenue for the country.
Chirundu Border Post shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe, is instrumental to the north-south corridor, and is an important transit route linking Zambia to Southern, and Eastern states.
It was the first to be commissioned as a One-Stop-Border,Post [OSBP] in 2009.
KASUMBALESA, CHIRUNDU CONCESSIONED
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) Council of Ministers and others, has approved the concession of both Chirundu and Kasumbalesa borders to be run by private entities.
Chirundu border has been awarded to a newly created entity called; Chirundu Border Concession and Kasumbalesa border has been awarded to a newly created consortium called; Zambia Imports Consortium.
This follows an application by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, as a procurement entity, who brought the unsolicited and uncompetitive bids through a restricted tender process.
The PPP Council that approved the proposal, comprises;Chairperson; Hon. Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, MP, Minister of Finance and National Planning; and membrs, Hon. Charles Milupi, MP, Minister of Infrastructure; Hon. Chipoka Mulenga, MP, Min. of Comm. Trade & Industry; Hon. Frank Tayali, MP, Minister of Transport and Logistics; Hon. Felix Mutati, MP, Minister of Technology and Science; Mrs. Margaret Mudenda; Mr. Noel Nkoma; Mr. Mukela Muyunda; and Dr. Abraham Mwenda.
KASUMBALESA BORDER
The Government and ZIPBCC signed a Concession Agreement for Kasumbalesa Border Post on 1st July, 2009, to Design, Build, Operate and Transfer. The operations of the border facility by ZIPBCC commenced in March, 2011.
After the expiry of the Concession, Transfer of the Kasumbalesa Border Post by the Zambia (1. P.) Border Crossing Company (ZIPBCC) to the Government of the Republic of Zambia began.
Cabinet approved that the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) should, from Friday, 3rd March, 2023, start managing the Vehicle Traffic Management System at Kasumbalesa Border Facility, including other supporting infrastructure.
The decision by Cabinet followed the expiry of the Concession Agreement between the Government and the Zambia (|. P.) Border Crossing Company ZIPBCC on Friday 3rd March, 2023.
The transfer of the Kasumbalesa Border Post to Government would allow the Government to manage the operations of the border facility and maximize revenue collection.
So how can you subject the same border to a new build, operate and transfer concession contract barely a year later after it was handed to the Government after a hiatus of 15years?
What did Government benefit from the previous concession?
Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) was expected tp manage the Vehicle Traffic Management System at Kasumbalesa Border Facility, including other supporting infrastructure but this has been quickly concessioned and the revenue collected will noe be subjected to revenue sharing mechanism.
CHIRUNDU BORDER
Glynn Cohen, Chairman, Founder & Entrepreneur and Builder of African Borders, has won the tender to run Chirundu Border under a newly created entity called Chirundu Border Concession.
Glen is also the Chairman of La Frontiere Group (LFG), Safaga, Chirundu and Forbes Border Consortiums, and other border infrastructure development companies whose vision is to have an end-to-end solution to advance the North South Corridor principle.
Glen is a former transporter who owned and managed what became one of the largest Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed leading transport companies in Southern Africa, running 10,000 trucks.
Glynn was born in Kadoma, Zimbabwe and lives in Monaco. Monaco is the second-smallest sovereign state in the world, after Vatican City. It is a world’s gambling city which contributes to its status as a tourist destination and recreation centre for the rich.
CONCESSIONING THE BORDERS
Clearly these deals are shrouded in secrecy to pervade corruption. The borders are extremely lucrative because the operators collect the nation’s revenue, control goods under import and exports, and as public assets therefore, require that a public and competitive tender process was undertaken.
Further the local partners of these companies might as well be related the political power structures and have therefore been motivated to secretely concession the borders, not for improvement and efficient border management.
PRESIDENT HICHILEMA WOOS GREEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY COMPANY TO ESTABLISH OFF-GRID ENERGY MIX IN ZAMBIA
PRESIDENT HICHILEMA WOOS GREEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY COMPANY TO ESTABLISH OFF-GRID ENERGY MIX IN ZAMBIA
Government has in principle agreed with Chinese firm Longi Green Energy Technology Company to undertake the implementation of the development, generation and supply of solar energy in Zambia.
The agreement will see Longi Green Energy collaborate with the government for the development of solar energy infrastructure at household, institutional and national levels.
The agreement will also see Zambia become a Longi Green Energy Technology Company hub that will service the region due to the central positioning.
Longi Green Energy Technology Company based in Xian City in Shaanxi Province, China is the world’s leader in solar energy solutions operating.
ZANIS reports that President Hichilema told Longi Green Energy Technology Company that the government has already reviewed the policy and regulatory framework to transition from monopolistic to an energy mix arrangement to meet the country’s energy needs.
President Hichilema convinced the Chinese firm Longi to support his proposal to have off grid energy solutions that will allow households and communities generate solar power with excess sold and fed to the national grid.
He told Longi Green Energy Technology Company Chairman, Zhengou Li, that he wants critical sectors such as schools, and hospitals, generate solar power at an institutional level.
President Hichilema is confident that the agreement will also see the creation of jobs for Zambians and technology transfer.
President Hichilema said engaging Longi Green Energy Technology Company is part of the implementation process of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships Cooperation Zambia signed with China during his inaugural State Visit to China last year.
He said Independent Power Producers will be co- opted in the project to ensure full sector participation and sustainable or affordable cost reflective tariffs.
President Hichilema pointed out that dependence on hydro power has exposed the country and affected economic activities.
The Head of State said today signals a new era in energy generation, and supply to meet riding energy needs in a changing world of energy dynamics. .
He said government will continue to pursue development of hydro power stations especially in the northern circuit where there’s adequate water bodies in order to balance and supplement solar energy to drive economic activities especially in the manufacturing, as well as mining sector where government has targeted to increase production to 3 million metric tonnes annually in the next 10 years.
Longi Green Energy Technology Company Chairman, Zhengou Li said his firm stands ready to assist Zambia come out of the energy crisis and transition to renewable energy, particularly solar.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Li observed that Solar energy has become the cornerstone of economic activities across the globe.
Green Energy Technology Company Head of Operations for Asia and Africa James Jin described Zambia as well positioned for the energy transition due to the endowments at her disposal.
He said Longi Green Energy Technology Company will make Zambia its Energy strategy flagship for Africa, as it has conducive factors and conditions to support energy transition.
Mr Jin shared that Longi spent US$1 billion last year in research to continue innovation in solar energy solutions.
And speaking away from the meeting, President Hichilema said one of his tasks to China while attending the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was to find collaboration partners to invest in solar solutions.
We have an agenda to change fundamentally our energy particularly our electricity mix because we were largely dependent on our hydronpower
He noted that research is key in finding solutions to daily challenges and attainment of development goals.
President Hichilema expressed optimism that with the revival of Mulungushi Textiles, good cotton varieties will be pursued to support the development of the sector.
He observed that investment into research and development can help minimise and manage drought through adoption of drought resistant varieties.
President Hichilema was accompanied to Longi Green Energy Technology Company by Minister of Energy Makozo Chikote, Principal Private Secretary Bradford Machila, Zambia’ s Ambassador to China Ivan Zyulu, and other senior government officials.
Pensioner who let 72 men r@pe his wife allegedly kept n@.ked pictures of his daughter
A a pensioner who allegedly drugged his wife so she could be r#ped nearly 100 times by 72 men over the space of 10 years, allegedly kept n@k.£d pictures of his daughter and might have drugged her too, a court in France has heard.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, is alleged to have used an online forum to recruit strangers to visit their home, and let several men rape Gisele, 72, his wife more than 100 times over a ten year period, the court heard.
Gisele (pictured below) has ‘no recollection’ of the ten years of abuse, which she discovered in 2020 after police found hundreds of images of her on her husband’s phone.
Husband who let 72 men r@pe his wife allegedly kept n@.ked pictures of his daughter
She was seen unconscious, mostly in a foetal position, in the pictures and videos alleged to show dozens of rapes at the couple’s home in Mazan, near Avignon, France.
During the second day of the trial of Dominique Pélicot, his daughter, Caroline Darian, left the courtroom after the judge mentioned her father’s computer had n*de photographs of her.
She told Le Parisien: ‘I’m convinced I was drugged, but he’ll never admit it.’
When Presiding Judge Roger Arata began reading out details of the pictures, Ms Darian who was in the public gallery, collapsed in tears, and had to leave the court building for 20 minutes.
Husband who let 72 men r@pe his wife allegedly kept n@.ked pictures of his daughter
From L-R Gisele’s daughter, Gisele, Gisele’s son
Ms Darian, now in her 40s, has already written a book about her dad called ‘And I stopped calling you Daddy’, which the Judge quoted from in court.
The woman also said she was ‘haunted’ by the fear that her father may have also allowed men to rape her after a picture of her in ‘someone else’s underwear’ was found on his computer.
The photographs were found on Dominique’s computer in a folder called ‘around my daughter, naked’.
Police found the 71-year-old’s stash of images after a security guard caught him secretly filming under the skirts of three women in a shopping centre.
The 71-year-old, who claims he was r@p.£d by a male nurse when he was nine, is ready to face ‘his family and his wife’, his lawyer Beatrice Zavarro said.
For Gisele, however, this trial will be a ‘horrible ordeal’ as it is the ‘first time she will have to live through the abuse that she endured over 10 years’, her lawyer said.
Gisele could have chosen a trial behind closed doors, but ‘that’s what her attackers would have wanted’, the court heard.
Ms Pélicot, a frail mother-of-three, was supported by her children as she remained in the public gallery on Tuesday, the second day of the trial.
Alleged r@pists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
In a separate case, Mr Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.
The case continues, and could last until December 21, according to Le Parisien.
Ronaldo goes after Man Utd again for ‘sour’ treatment at the club
Former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has once again criticised the Red Devils while discussing his future with the Portuguese national team.
Ronaldo, who made a highly anticipated return to Manchester United in the summer of 2021, enjoyed a strong first season back at Old Trafford.
However, his second season was marred by a series of underwhelming performances, leading manager Erik ten Hag to bench the veteran striker.
Frustrated with his reduced role, Ronaldo publicly criticised both the club and Ten Hag in a controversial interview, which ultimately resulted in the termination of his contract.
Now, as he reflects on his future with Portugal, Ronaldo has taken another opportunity to express his discontent with his former club.
Speaking to A Bola, Ronaldo responded to questions about whether he’s ready to represent the national team as a substitute: “In my mind, I’ll always be a starter. That’s what you think. Until the end of my career, I’ll always think that I’ll be a starter.
“I’ll always respect the decisions, not just of the coach, but at the clubs I’ve played for, I’ve always respected them… once or twice, they’ve also behaved badly towards me (laughs). But seriously, whenever there’s professional ethics, I’ll always respect the coaches’ decisions.
“When professional ethics are not respected, there can always be controversy, but that is separate.
What I feel at the moment, and the coach’s words also demonstrate this, is that I continue to be an asset to the national team, and I will be the first to admit it. If that does not happen, if I am not an asset, I will be the first to leave.
“But if I leave, I will go with a clear conscience, as always, because I know who I am, what I can do, what I do and what I will continue to do.
I see the present in a very positive way because for me the most important thing is to face each moment, each cycle, and the cycle is good; I feel happy.”
Ronaldo has received a lot of flak for his role in Portugal’s underperformance in both Euro 2024 and World Cup 2022.
The former Real Madrid star was pushed off to the bench in Qatar by Fernando Santos; however, the head coach was replaced by Roberto Martinez, who has stuck with Ronaldo in the national team despite his struggles on the field.
Ronaldo failed to score a single goal in Germany earlier this year, but Martinez has revealed that the 38-year-old will remain a starter for the future.
The 39-year-old forward will now join the Portuguese national team squad for their Nations League clashes against Croatia and Scotland before he returns to Saudi Arabia.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck may face challenges in dividing their assets
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck may face challenges in dividing their assets because they couldn’t sign a prenuptial agreement prior to their marriage.
A source told People that their ongoing divorce ‘has the potential to get ugly’ since they did not sign a prenuptial agreement.
The source noted that ‘there are some sticking points over financials’ between the superstar, 55, and two-time Oscar winner, 52, who eloped at The Little White Chapel in Las Vegas.
In her divorce filing, Lopez, who listed their separation date as April 26, 2024, wrote that their assets were ‘unknown.’
According to California state law, only the income and assets they earned during their short-lived marriage are ‘considered community property and subject to division.’
This includes the Beverly Hills mansion they purchased for $60.8 million last year and a number of the projects and endorsements they’ve done since tying the knot.
They are currently in mediation which is a less formal, faster alternative to a traditional divorce.
According to Wagner & Bloch’s website, ‘Divorce mediation is an alternative dispute resolution process where a third-party mediator guides a separating couple to resolve issues related to property distribution, child custody, alimony, and other divorce matters.’
It has been claimed that Affleck is ‘happy’ as he is slowly moving into his new home in a neighborhood he loves amid his ongoing divorce proceedings from Jennifer.
A source told People that Ben is ‘doing well’ and ‘slowly moving into his new home’ after moving trucks were recently seen at the marital home he shares with Jennifer.
The insider explained: ‘He’s where he wants to be: close to his kids and in a neighbourhood that he loves. He enjoys working too, and is very focused on the positives.’
Ben closed escrow on his $20.5M five-bedroom, six-bathroom Brentwood mansion on July 24, which was also Jennifer’s birthday.
Meanwhile, Lopez has been house hunting as far back as May to no avail after the couple put their $68million 12-bedroom Crestview Manor mansion on the market.
Amid the divorce, Jennifer also seems to be doing well as a source claimed ‘she still feels very fortunate’ despite ‘some bitterness’ surrounding the split.
‘She tried so hard to make things work and it didn’t matter to Ben. She’s surrounded by family, friends and her kids,’ the insider told People.
Jennifer and Ben legally separated on April 26, with the actress then filing for divorce in LA County Superior Court on August 20, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’.
On the heels of the filing, Ben was speculated to be dating RFK Jr.’s daughter, Kick Kennedy, after they were spotted out together in Los Angeles on various outings.
On Wednesday, sources claimed Jennifer was ‘very upset’ with Ben amid rumours that he has been ‘hanging out’ with Kick in recent weeks.
However, Ben’s representative firmly denied the reports, telling People: ‘There is no truth to any of it. I don’t know if they even know each other.’
Jennifer and Ben originally met on the LA set of Martin Brest’s box office bomb Gigli in 2001 but abruptly split just three days before their wedding in 2004.
They both went on to marry other people, with Jennifer exchanging vows with Marc Anthony in 2004, while Ben walked down the aisle with Jennifer Garner in 2005.
However, after splitting from their respective partners, they eventually got back together in 2021.
The superstar couple first tied the knot at a chapel in Las Vegas in July 2022, followed by a larger ceremony at his Georgia estate the following month.
The pair then went their separate ways earlier this year, with it being claimed that they had ‘planned’ their divorce before Jennifer’s filing on August 20.
Vini Jr. calls for Spain’s 2030 World Cup hosting rights to be revoked due to racism issues
Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior has called for Spain to be stripped of its hosting rights for the 2030 World Cup if the country fails to address the ongoing issue of racist abuse.
The Brazilian forward has been the target of racial slurs on multiple occasions since joining Real Madrid.
Although Spanish authorities have made arrests in some cases to set an example, Vinicius believes that these efforts are insufficient to eradicate the deep-seated problem.
In response to the rising number of racist incidents in football, UEFA introduced a three-step protocol in 2019 to aid referees in managing such behaviour in the stands.
The first step involves pausing the match and issuing a public address announcement, urging fans to cease their offensive conduct.
If the abuse persists, the second step is to suspend the game for up to 10 minutes, with players retreating to the locker rooms. Should the racist behaviour continue, the final measure is to abandon the match entirely.
Despite these measures, racist incidents have not been eradicated, prompting Vinicius to question whether Spain is truly fit to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Morocco and Portugal.
He argues that unless significant action is taken to combat racism, Spain should be reconsidered as a host nation for the tournament.
In an interview with CNN, Vinicius said: “I hope Spain can evolve and understand the seriousness of insulting someone because of their skin colour.
Because if things don’t evolve by 2030, I think (the World Cup) will have to change location, because if players don’t feel comfortable and confident playing in a country where they can suffer racism, it’s very complicated.
“I believe and I want to do everything so that things can change because many people in Spain, the majority, are not racist, although there is a small group that ends up affecting the image of a country where people live very well.”
In October 2023, Vinicius took the issue to court, presenting evidence and testifying about the racist insults he endured during a match against Valencia.
Reflecting on that experience, he said: “In the case of what happened in Valencia, after the game—after we thought about it—everyone said the right thing to do is to leave the pitch, but as you are there defending a team, we know that not everyone in the stadium is racist and was just there to watch the game.”
Vinicius Junior has issued a stern warning that Real Madrid will walk off the pitch if he experiences any form of racist abuse during future matches.
The Brazilian star, who has faced repeated racial slurs throughout his time in Spain, is taking a firm stand against such behaviour.
Vinicius has now rejoined the Brazilian national team for the international break and is set to play in their upcoming matches against Ecuador and Paraguay on September 6 and 10, respectively.
African nations lose 5% of GDP to climate change after experiencing one of the hottest years on record
African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP annually due to climate change, bearing a heavier burden than the rest of the world, according to a report released after one of the continent’s hottest years on record.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlighted the significant financial strain on African countries, with many now dedicating up to 9% of their budgets to climate adaptation policies. This level of expenditure reflects the urgency facing African nations as they attempt to combat the effects of climate change, despite contributing less than 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“Africa has experienced a warming trend over the past 60 years that is accelerating faster than the global average,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said. This rapid warming threatens food security, public health, and peace across the continent, the report said. The impact of climate change is not just a future concern, but a present reality affecting millions of lives.
Africa’s vulnerability to extreme weather events is especially alarming. The WMO report noted that, despite Africa’s minimal contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, it is the most susceptible region to severe climate-related events, including droughts, floods, and heatwaves. These events have become more frequent and intense, exacerbating poverty and undermining development efforts.
The report pointed to 2023 as one of Africa’s three hottest years on record, a trend expected to continue. The WMO urged African governments to invest in early warning systems and meteorological services, which are critical for preparing for and responding to climate-related disasters. Without these measures, up to 118 million Africans could face life-threatening conditions such as droughts, floods, and extreme heat by 2030, the report warned.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the cost of adapting to increasingly severe weather patterns could range from $30 billion to $50 billion annually over the next decade, the report said. These costs are daunting for nations already grappling with economic challenges. The financial burden threatens to derail progress in poverty reduction, education, and healthcare, pushing millions further into hardship.
The consequences of climate change have already been felt across the continent. Between September and October 2023, about 300,000 people in West Africa were displaced by floods. At the same time, Zambia experienced its worst drought in 40 years, affecting nearly 6 million people and leading to widespread food insecurity. These events are part of a broader pattern of extreme weather increasingly defining life in Africa.
As 2024 unfolds, the trend of extreme weather shows no sign of slowing. In the Sahel region south of the Sahara, floods have already affected more than 716,000 people this year, according to the United Nations. In Mali, the government declared a national disaster last week after floods affected 47,000 people since the start of the rainy season.
West Africa also faced unprecedented heat waves earlier this year, leading to a surge in deaths and further straining public health systems ill-equipped to handle such crises. These events underscore the urgent need for comprehensive climate action, both within Africa and globally, to address the root causes of climate change and support the continent’s efforts to adapt and build resilience.
The report makes it clear that Africa is at a critical juncture. The continent’s ability to cope with the escalating effects of climate change will depend on both domestic policy decisions and international support. The future of millions of Africans hinges on the world’s response to this growing crisis.
Jada Pinkett Smith has switched her Instagram account to private after she had people speculating that there is trouble in her marriage
Jada Pinkett Smith has switched her Instagram account to private after she had people speculating that there is trouble in her marriage
The American actress, 52, had put up a picture of a text block with a detailed message.
It read: “A man can CHOOSE to belong to someone. And if he does… he is considered noble. A woman is told she MUST belong to someone or … she is not worthy.”
The post’s caption read: “Even in some of our great religious traditions the goddess is rendered powerless without her male counterpart. And in others, the spiritual influence of the feminine, of Mother … is not even recognized.”
“We mere mortal women are worthy simply because we exist! And those of us who have cultivated our Queendom within our inner kingdom and have a deep relationship with the Great Supreme … If we so CHOOSE to bond with someone from this space … we will erect monumental love and give birth to treasures,” continued the caption. “We need not bond in fear. You … are … greatness. Walk with that this here Monday.”
On Sunday, Sept. 1, she published a series of images on the site, in which she officially said goodbye to summer.
“Summer is coming to an end and my heart has been blooming in so many ways. Can’t wait to share. Till then…I’m just embracing the last of the summer vibez,” she captioned the post.
Her set of photos featured a selfie by the beach and a video of her riding a jet ski with an unidentified man.
Pinkett Smith’s recent Instagram posts come nearly a year after she opened up about her relationship with the Bad Boys: Ride or Die star. “I’m going to be by his side,” she said of their relationship amid the release of her memoir Worthy last fall.
As for the state of her marriage to Smith, Pinkett Smith said they were “still figuring it out” and revealed that they had been separated since 2016.
“We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together,” she added. “We just got deep love for each other and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us.”
The couple, who tied the knot on New Year’s Eve in 1997, have been married for 26 years and share two children: son Jaden, 26, and daughter Willow, 23. The King Richard actor also shares son Trey, 31, with ex-wife Sheree Zampino.
Gridlock in Nigeria amid fuel shortages and price hikes
Nigerians have been hit by a double whammy of chronic fuel shortages and a hike in prices by the state-owned oil company.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which imports the country’s fuel and distributes it to private sellers, blamed its debts and rising global prices for its difficulty in getting fuel.
Many people have been left stranded with long queues at petrol stations nationwide. Commuters in Lagos have been lining up at bus stations, but there very few buses operating.
Others told the BBC they have been forced to trek long distances as public transport prices have doubled along some routes.
On Tuesday, the NNPC said it was putting up the petrol price from 617 naira ($0.40, £0.30) to 897 naira a litre.
Its petrol stations have the cheapest fuel on sale in the country – but at the vast majority of other private garages the pump price is much higher.
When the NNPC puts up the price, so do private sellers and in some states, like Oyo, Kano and Kaduna, petrol is now selling for as much as 1,200 naira a litre.
Many garages around the country have shut because they have run out of fuel, others have closed to adjust their prices.
In the capital, Abuja, most are open but all have long queues as desperate drivers wait their turn – some slept in their cars overnight.
Fuel stations are not rationing supply, so there is a danger their wait will be futile.
A motorcycle rider in Kano, the main trading hub of northern Nigeria, said it was frustrating: “Most of the fuel stations here in Kano are closed because they want to adjust their pumps to the new price.
“I was able to get fuel at 950 naira at a particular station, but other places have already started selling at 1,200 per litre,” Aminu Danyaro told the BBC.
Black-market traders, who buy fuel from petrol stations and sell it by the roadside from jerrycans at inflated prices, are doing a brisk trade in Kano, where there is significantly less traffic than usual.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) – the country’s main trade union body – says it feels “betrayed”, explaining that the reason it accepted the new minimum monthly wage of 70,000 naira ($44, £34) in July was because there was an agreement with the government that petrol price would not be increased.
When President Bola Tinubu came to power last year, he shocked Nigerians on his first day by removing a subsidy that kept the price of fuel low.
This – amongst other policies – has led to the worst economic crisis in a generation and cost-of-living protests, dubbed “10 days of rage”, were held countrywide last month.
Nigerians are now pinning their hopes on the new privately owned Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which has been built by one of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
On Monday, it was announced with great fanfare that the refinery had just started producing petrol – a milestone in Nigeria which despite being Africa’s largest producer of crude oil imports all its refined fuel.
But it is not clear how long Nigerians will have to wait to see ready availability of petrol or a drop in prices.
“If you’re watching me, I’m de@d” Popular YouTuber Paul Harrell reveals own de@th at 58
Popular YouTuber, Paul Harrell took to his own page to announce his de@th after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
He apologised to fans in a heartbreaking announcement he said “makes me feel like I’ve let everybody down.”
The gun-rights activist shared the news in a posthumous video on his channel titled, “I’m dead.”
“If you’re watching me, I’m dead,” the Oregon-based content creator told his 1.14 million subscribers.
The six-minute clip from “beyond the grave,” was filmed in December 2023, with his family publishing it following his death on Tuesday, September 3.
Harrell made the announcement while sitting on a log in a forest, the very spot where he first told his subscribers about his diagnosis with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer.
Initially, Harrell was optimistic, telling fans his cancer had been “caught early” and he would “be here for some time.” But in his posthumous video, Harrell went on to detail how his health took a turn for the worse.
“We did catch it early but not as early as I had thought,” Harrell told fans. “It has spread faster than I thought it would. My time is drawing very short.”
Using crutches after fracturing his hip – an injury he revealed was triggered by his cancer after it spread to his bones and caused them to “crumble” – the YouTuber offered his “sincere apologies” to fans who would be shocked over his sudden death.
“I had hoped that I would continue in this format for the next 10 or even 15 years,” he said. “Even once I was diagnosed I’d hoped that we’d be here for at least two or three more years and that’s turned out to be only a few more months.”
“My apologies for that. It makes me feel like I’ve let everybody down,” Harrell added.
The comments section of the video was inundated with comments expressing love for Harrell, with many praising the firearms expert for all he’s done for the community.
“Thank you Paul for everything!,” one fan wrote.
“Even beyond the grave, the sense of humour is dark but appropriate,” another fan wrote. “We’ll miss you Paul.”
“This is the worst notification I’ve ever gotten,” another heartbroken supporter added. “RIP Paul.”
The clip ended with a message from his editor and manager, Brad Nelson.
“I had the great privilege of having Paul in my life and having him as a friend,” Nelson told viewers. “He is very generous and a kind guy and he told the best campfire stories.”
Texas woman indicted over ‘trying to drown 3-year-old girl in pool because she’s Muslim’
A Texas woman has been formally indicted over the allegedly racially motivated attempted drowning of a three-year-old Palestinian-American girl.
42-year-old Elizabeth Wolf was arrested back in May after she tried to drown the little girl at an apartment complex swimming pool in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Euless ‘because she was Muslim’. The girl’s six-year-old brother was also hurt in the incident.
Three months after the incident, a Tarrant County grand jury has charged Wolf with attempted capital murder of a person under 10 years of age and intentionally causing bodily injury to a child.
The indictment filed on August 15 also included a hate crime enhancement, according to court records that came to light on Tuesday. The enhancement may raise the severity of Wolf’s sentence if she is found guilty.
Investigators allege that Wolf, whose representative could not immediately be reached for comment, was drunk at the time of the attempted drowning.
Wolf approached a hijab-wearing Muslim woman – identified as Mrs H – at the apartment complex pool in May, according to a police report.
Officials said that Wolf began making racist comments and demanded to know where Mrs H’s family was from and if the two children in the pool were hers.
After a few minutes, she tried to drown the 3-year-old and attempted to grab the 6-year-old boy, the police report said.
‘Wolf tried to grab (the mother’s) six-year-old son but he pulled away from her grasp, which caused a scratch on his finger.
‘The mother began helping her son when Wolf grabbed her three-year-old daughter and forced her underwater. The mother was able to pull her daughter from the water.
‘Her daughter had been yelling for help and was coughing up water,’ Euless police said.
Mrs H was able to pull her daughter from the water, police said, and local medics responded to the scene and the children were medically cleared.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) explained that a Black man helped rescue the young girl from the attacker as more people gathered and witnessed what had happened.
CAIR later confirmed that the children are now safe but severely traumatized.
As Wolf was being handcuffed by police, she allegedly shouted to a witness who was with Mrs H, ‘Tell her I will kill her, and I will kill her whole family,’ the agency reported.
Mrs. H also told CAIR that Wolf had allegedly snatched her hijab off her head and began beating and kicking her, preventing her from reaching her daughter as the suspect held her head underwater.
In a statement, the distressed mother said: ‘We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my kids. My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here.
‘My daughter is traumatized; whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me she is afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again.
‘Also, my husband’s employment is jeopardized due to having to leave work to accompany me and our four kids whenever we have appointments and errands to run.’
Raygun calls herself the best female breakdancer in Australia in first interview since infamous dance at Paris Olympics that sparked global mockery and backlash
Embattled Australian Olympian Rachael “Raygun” Gunn revealed Wednesday, September 4, that she hasn’t yet watched her breakdancing performance back in full after the viral routine sparked widespread mockery and backlash.
The 36-year-old made the startling confession in her first interview interview since her controversial breakdancing routine made up of kangaroo hopping and sprinkler moves at last month’s Paris games which catapulted her to global infamy and made her an epitome of internet mockery..
“I have seen little bits and pieces, but I will watch it eventually,” Gunn told Network 10’s “The Project.”
Gunn, who scored zero points in all three of her Olympic battles, admitted she also can’t bring herself to watch a drama Sketch that aired on Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” in the aftermath.
“I haven’t actually watched it the sketch because I don’t think I am in a place to watch it,” Gunn said, adding she had mixed emotions about the skit performed by comedian Rachel Dratch.
“I don’t know whether to hug him or yell at him,” she continued, referring to Fallon.
Elsewhere in the interview, Gunn defended her breakdancing record but also apologized to Australia’s breakdancing community for the furore her performance caused.
Asked if she genuinely thought she was Australia’s best female breakdancer, Gunn responded: “I think my record speaks to that.”
“I was the top-ranked Australian B-girl in 2020 and 2022 and 2023. I have been invited to represent at how many World Championships… So, the record is there. But anything can happen in a battle.”
Gunn’s routine, which she performed in an Australian team polo and high-waisted sweatpants, quickly went viral something she said she didn’t realize until an Australian Olympics Committee liaison showed it to her.
“As soon as I finished my rounds, my media liaison from the AOC said, ‘Oh, there’s a bit of a storm brewing on social media. You might want to go off socials’. I didn’t understand the scale of it. I did preview some comments, and I was like, ‘Oh, no,’ and this kind of sick feeling started coming out,” she said.
“It is really sad to hear those criticisms and I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced, but I can’t control how people react.”
In the aftermath, Gunn, a breaking researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney was hit by claims she manipulated the Olympic selection process by setting up her own governing body and had her husband judge the qualification trial.
The allegations were later denounced by the country’s Olympics Committee and the World DanceSport Federation.